Deniz Tekin
The retrial of journalist Mehmet Ali Ertaş, who had been sentenced to 1 year and 3 months in prison for a social media post, has begun. The case, reopened following a violation ruling by the Constitutional Court (AYM), has been sent to the prosecutor at the end of the hearing to prepare their main opinion.
The Diyarbakır 9th High Criminal Court has started the retrial of Mehmet Ali Ertaş, the editor-in-chief of the Kurdish-language newspaper Xwebûn, who was charged with "making terrorist propaganda." Ertaş and his lawyer, Resul Temur, attended the hearing.
The presiding judge asked Ertaş to respond to the AYM's violation decision. Ertaş reiterated his previous defense statements and requested acquittal. Lawyer Temur also called for an acquittal based on the AYM's decision.
The prosecutor requested the case file to prepare their main opinion on the matter. The presiding judge granted this request, sending the file to the prosecutor and postponing the next hearing to October 10, 2024.
Background of the case
In 2017, while Ertaş was an editor at the Mezopotamya Agency, he was prosecuted for "making terrorist propaganda" through four separate posts on his social media account. The Diyarbakır 9th High Criminal Court sentenced Ertaş to 1 year and 3 months in prison, with the pronouncement of the judgment deferred.
Ertaş was penalized for a Kurdish post he made on October 11, 2015, which stated, "The state continues the genocide. Just as they killed 128 peace lovers in Ankara, eight HPG-YPJ star guerrillas were killed by planes in Fis village of Lice." His lawyer appealed the local court's decision to the AYM. In 2023, the AYM ruled that Ertaş's "freedom of expression" and "right to organize meetings and demonstrations" had been violated, and ordered a retrial.
