Cansu Pişkin, İstanbul – Ten people, including journalist İshak Karakaş, were accused of distributing “terrorist propaganda” in an Istanbul court today. The group face the “terrorist propaganda” charges as a consequence of publishing social media posts critical of Turkish military operations in Afrin, Syria.
The hearing took place at İstanbul 28th High Criminal Court. It is the third time the case has been heard. İshak Karakaş, Yücel Üney, Ömer Karakurt, and Şervan Dinçer, four of the defendants in the case, were present at the hearing with their lawyers. The panel of judges decided to send the case file to the prosecutor’s office and adjourned the hearing until January 2019.
While some digital review reports have not yet been added to the case file, the prosecutor requested that the court proceed regardless and argued that the reports would make no significant contribution to what is already known. This was strongly challenged by lawyers for various defendants. The court ultimately accepted the prosecutor's request not to wait for the reports to be finalized.
Yıldız İmrek, İshak Karakaş’ lawyer, requested that a prohibition on overseas travel by Karakaş be lifted. İmrek argued that such a ban significantly interferes with the journalistic work of Karakaş. The court refused the request.
The panel of judges then decided to send the case file to the prosecutor’s office to allow the prosecution to prepare a final opinion, and adjourned the hearing until January 17 2019.
Updated: November 27 2018
