Eylem Sonbahar, İstanbul – Four academics who signed a petition declaring "We will not be a party to this crime", in reference to ongoing political turmoil in Turkey, had their eighth hearing at İstanbul 13. High Criminal Court today on charges of distributing terrorist propaganda.
Of the four defendants, Esra Mungan and Meral Camcı were present in court and Muzaffer Kaya and Kıvanç Ersoy were absent. The Media and Law Studies Association monitored the hearing, as did Erol Önderoğlu - a representative of Reporters Without Borders, and Prof. Dr. Onur Hamzaoğlu. Many would-be observers were denied entry due to a lack of seats.
Mungan and Camcı both requested extra time for the preparation of their defense statements. Oya Meriç Eyüboğlu, a lawyer for the defense, remarked that the case file is incomplete and that the defense would be able to obtain relevant documents to rectify this if extra time were granted. The court chose to adjourn until January 28 2019.
Updated: November 30 2018
