The second hearing of the case against Kılıç, represented by the Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA), was held today (February 15, 2024) at the Istanbul 19th Criminal Court of First Instance. Kılıç is being tried for "resisting to prevent a public official from performing their duty" and "openly insulting a public official due to their duty." The expert report, which pertains to Kılıç's police detainment involving physical violence, was added to the case file.
The report noted that footage showed a police officer kneeling on Kılıç's back to prevent him from getting up, during which Kılıç shouted, "I can't breathe."
At the hearing, journalist Fatoş Erdoğan, who was working in the field on the day of the incident, and police officer Murat Aydındağ, who was on duty at the same event, testified as witnesses. Erdoğan stated that the police did not issue a dispersal warning, recalling, "Suddenly, I heard a journalist asking, 'What are you doing?' I turned and saw five or six police officers approaching to take Bülent away. He was holding his camera. Five or six journalists told the police that Bülent was a journalist, but they didn't release him." Erdoğan added that Kılıç did not resist the police and that she recorded the moment of his detainment, which was submitted to the court.
Witness Aydındağ, however, claimed he did not remember the details written in the report and was not near Kılıç during the arrest, stating he was taking precautions at the street corner. Initially, Aydındağ said he did not recall the insults alleged in the indictment, but later remembered some of them.
Emine Özhasar from the MLSA Legal Unit asked the witness police officer about the alleged phrase "Tayyip's dogs" attributed to Kılıç. The officer denied hearing it, saying, "Colleagues heard it and told me."
Kılıç, speaking at the hearing, denied resisting the police during his arrest, stating, "I just said that the handcuffs were very tight and hurt me, they were squeezing my wrists to the point of torture."
Judge Özlem Akyıldız, deciding to hear witnesses in the next session if available, ordered that any requests to expand the investigation be submitted, or else, the case file be sent to the prosecution to prepare their final opinion. The next hearing is scheduled for September 19, 2024, at 10:55 am.
Background:
Bülent Kılıç, an AFP photojournalist, was detained by police on June 26, 2021, during the 19th Istanbul Pride March, where he was reportedly subjected to torture and handcuffed from behind.
Following the incident, MLSA lawyers filed a criminal complaint on August 4, 2021, against two identified police officers for "property damage" and "exceeding the limits of authority to use force resulting in simple injury." MLSA also filed a compensation lawsuit on behalf of Kılıç. The Istanbul 8th Administrative Court ruled that the police officers used "excessive force" and awarded Kılıç compensation of 30,095 Turkish Liras and 58 kurus.
Prosecutor Aysel Daşkıran did not consider the administrative court's decision of "excessive force" and dismissed the criminal complaint against the police officers. She concluded that the officers did not exceed their authority to use force as defined in the Police Duties and Powers Law and decided not to prosecute them on March 16, 2023. Kılıç's lawyers appealed the decision, but the Istanbul 5th Criminal Court of Peace rejected the appeal on April 14, 2023.
On the same day she dismissed the complaint, the prosecutor drafted an indictment against journalist Kılıç for "resisting to prevent a public official from performing their duty" and "openly insulting a public official due to their duty." The indictment was accepted by the Istanbul 19th Criminal Court of First Instance.
At the first hearing on October 26, 2023, it was revealed that the police officers signed the report without seeing it.
