A court in Istanbul has acquitted 35 people — including journalist Engin Deniz İpek — who had been on trial for allegedly violating Turkey’s law on meetings and demonstrations following a rally in the city’s Saraçhane district.
MLSA — The fourth hearing in the trial of 35 defendants, including Cumhuriyet newspaper reporter Engin Deniz İpek, was held at the Istanbul 64th Criminal Court of First Instance. Prosecutors had charged the defendants with “participating in unlawful meetings and marches without weapons and failing to disperse despite warnings,”following a rally held in Saraçhane on July 1, 2025, under Law No. 2911 on Meetings and Demonstrations.
The hearing began with a delay of about 10 minutes. The judge said that since the defendants’ defense statements had already been taken in the previous hearing, a request for a larger courtroom had not been made and the hearing would proceed in the existing room. The judge added that only defendants who wished to speak would be given the floor for their final statements.
The courtroom became increasingly crowded when plainclothes police officers and courthouse security personnelentered, while the defendants and their lawyers remained standing. Movement in the room became restricted. Because the small courtroom was poorly ventilated and the door remained open, the sound of police radios mixed with the already hard-to-hear discussions inside.
In their final statements, the defendants requested acquittal, and all defense lawyers argued for acquittal as well.
Journalist Engin Deniz İpek said briefly: “I am a journalist, and I request my acquittal.”
İpek’s lawyer, Enes Ermaner, told the court that they had stated from the beginning that his client was a journalist.
“My client is a journalist who monitors social events in the public interest. He conducts journalistic activities within the scope of the Press Law and the Press Labor Law. Subjecting journalists to judicial harassment through such trials creates a chilling effect on freedom of the press and freedom of expression,” Ermaner said.
Ermaner also reminded the court that freedom of the press and freedom of expression are guaranteed by the Turkish Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights, and requested his client’s acquittal.
After a brief recess, the court ruled to acquit all defendants, finding that the legal elements of the alleged offense had not been established.
