An Istanbul court has rejected the immediate acquittal request for eight journalists on trial for covering protests that followed the detention of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB) Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu. The court referred the case to the prosecutor for a final opinion on the merits and adjourned the trial to Nov. 27.
MLSA - The second hearing of the case was held at the Istanbul 62nd Criminal Court of First Instance but was moved to the larger courtroom of the 40th High Criminal Court due to the number of defendants. The journalists, who are being tried alongside four lawyers, are charged with “participating in unlawful assemblies and marches without arms and failing to disperse despite warnings.”
Among those present at the hearing were journalists Yasin Akgül, Zeynep Kuray, Bülent Kılıç -- represented by MLSA -- and journalists Kurtuluş Arı, Gökhan Kam, Hayri Tunç, Emre Orman and Ali Onur Tosun, Observers from the Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA), Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), and the DİSK Press Union also monitored the proceedings.
“I was detained in front of my children for doing journalism”
During the hearing held on Oct. 24, AFP photojournalist Yasin Akgül said in his defense statement that he has worked as a journalist for 15 years and spent 18 years taking photographs in the field: “I’ve reported from Syria and Iraq, but I’ve never been detained in front of my children in the morning. A photojournalist must be in the field because that’s where the news is.”
Akgül added that he is part of a WhatsApp group run by the Istanbul Governor’s Office that informs journalists about press restrictions, and he had received notice of the ban through that group. He argued that the images in the case file were cropped selectively and emphasized: “I was walking ahead with police officers during the protest,” making it clear that he was acting as a journalist.
“We are the usual suspects of every era”
Journalist Zeynep Kuray said in her defense statement that she has been working as a journalist for many years. She said the photos used against her were deliberately framed to create the false impression that she was a protester.
“They’re trying to portray me as an activist. They see I’m there and say, ‘Let’s take her too.’ First, they shut down my Twitter account, then they try to shut me down,” Kuray said. “When people take to the streets, we journalists are also there. Everyone knows me. Do they not know I’m a journalist?”
Journalist Hayri Tunç also said he was at the scene to cover the news, explaining, “I was at the Saraçhane protest to report.”
Gökhan Kam stated that he was at Saraçhane to take photographs. “I’ve been a journalist for years and was just doing my job,” he said, noting that he was standing with other photojournalists, not among the protesters.
“This is a setup case”
Emre Orman said the photographs in the case deliberately excluded his professional equipment, claiming, “This is a setup case.” He added that even though he was walking alongside police officers, only his face was shown in a photo to portray him as a protester.
Ali Onur Tosun, a reporter for Now TV, similarly noted that his equipment was not visible in the photo used as evidence against him. “I was holding a microphone. I had no other purpose but to report the news,” he said.
Photojournalist Kurtuluş Arı also stated he was at the protest strictly in his capacity as a journalist. “I am not a protester. I was just doing my job,” he said.
Journalist Bülent Kılıç repeated his previous defense statements and told the court, “Your Honor, journalism is on trial here. We demand to be acquitted.”
“Now even lawyers are on trial alongside journalists”
Lawyer Deniz Demirdöven, one of the defendants, said she was at the scene in her professional capacity. “We are being tried alongside journalists. These days, even lawyers are constantly being tried together with journalists,” she said.
“There’s no mention in the indictment of where, when, or which protest I allegedly attended. Your Honor, do you know? Because it’s not in the indictment either.”
Demirdöven’s lawyer argued that the investigation was procedurally flawed under the Attorneyship Law and requested that the trial be halted. However, the prosecutor claimed there were no legal violations, and the court rejected the request.
“No evidence, no records, no warnings in the file”
Batıkan Erkoç, one of the journalists’ lawyers, emphasized the lack of concrete evidence: “There’s no place, no date, no time in the indictment. No footage, no records, no warning notices. The police have failed to submit the alleged videos for seven months. The only evidence is the journalists’ own statements that they were doing their job.”
Erkoç recalled that the journalists were initially detained in early morning raids, released, then rearrested upon the prosecutor’s appeal and finally released again at 8:30 a.m. the next day. He pointed out that some of the defendants hold official press credentials issued by the Presidency. “If press cards issued by the Presidency are not accepted as proof of journalism, then legally, journalism does not exist as a profession in Turkey,” he said.
Lawyers Arzuhan Halis, Emine Özhasar and Hazal Sümeli also demanded immediate acquittal. Halis argued that “the evidence in the file and the nature of the arrests clearly show that our clients were on the scene as journalists.”
Court rules to proceed with case
The prosecutor stated that the conditions for an immediate acquittal had not been met and requested that the case file be sent to the prosecutor’s office for a final opinion on the merits. The court agreed and postponed the next hearing to Nov. 27.
Background
A total of 11 journalists were detained while covering protests in Istanbul and Izmir on March 23–24, following the detention of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, a prominent opposition figure. Those detained included journalists working for AFP, Now TV and other national media outlets.
On March 25, seven journalists were brought to the Istanbul Courthouse and initially released. However, they were rearrested later the same day after a prosecutor’s appeal and subsequently released again on March 27. The Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA) is representing journalists Yasin Akgül, Bülent Kılıç and Zeynep Kuray in the trial. Other journalists on trial include Gökhan Kam, Emre Orman, Kurtuluş Arı, Ali Onur Tosun and Hayri Tunç.
