18 January Monday
- Second hearing of the trial where journalist İdris Yılmaz faces “inciting the public to hatred and animosity” charges for a single social media post from January 2018 criticizing Turkish military’s operation in Afrin, Syria will resume at Erciş 1st Criminal Court of First Instance this week. The court had ceased prosecution in order to seek permission of the Ministry of Justice for prosecuting Yılmaz with “denigrating the Turkish nation” charges per Turkish Penal Code’s notorious Article 301. The Ministry rejected this request; thus, the trial will resume per the initial charge.
19 January Tuesday
- First hearing of the trial where journalist Cengiz Çandar and Kemal Işıktaş face “praising and offence and the offender” charges based on Twitter posts they had posted on May 30, 2017 will be held at İstanbul 30th Criminal Court of First Instance. Çandar, whom MLSA represents in court, faces this charge for a tweet about Ayşe Deniz Karacagil who was killed by ISIS while fighting in Northern Syria: “Girl with the red scarf, the angel with the warmest smile in Gezi who warmed our hearts, fell to the ground in Raqqa and hurt our hearts by ascending to the stars.” The indictment claims that Karacagil died fighting for a terrorist organization in Raqqa and that praising her on social media would pose an open threat to public peace.
- Trial where Kurdish newspaper Xwebun columnist and Kurdish linguist Mehmet Şahin faces “founding and managing a terrorist organization” charges for his activities within Democratic Society Congress (DTK) will resume at Diyarbakır 5th High Criminal Court this week.
- Fourth hearing of the trial where former Halk TV executive and journalist Hakan Aygün faces “publicly degrades the religious values of a section of the public” charges for a tweet criticizing the government for demanding donations to combat COVID-19 will be held at Bodrum 3rd Criminal Court of First Instance. Aygün was taken under police custody on April 2 for this tweet and was arrested for “inciting the public to hatred” and “insult” charges on April 3. Journalist Aygün was released pending trial during the first hearing which was held on May 6, 2020.
- Fourth hearing of the trial where Evrensel daily’s former Managing Editor Cem Şimşek faces “insulting the president” charges for a news story on German cartoonists who drew Erdoğan will resume at Bakırköy 27th Criminal Court of First Instance.
- Trial where journalist Erk Acarer faces “insulting the President” charges for his column published in BirGün newspaper on October 6, 2016 titled will resume before the İstanbul 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance this week.
- Second hearing of the trial where journalist Sonya Bayık faces “defying the Law on Assemblies and Demonstrations” will be held at Batman 1st Criminal Court of First Instance this week. This case was opened against Bayık after she was briefly detained at Hasankeyf while she was following a press conference against the historical site’s destruction.
20 January Wednesday
- Cumhuriyet reporter Hazal Ocak and the newspaper’s publisher Alev Coşkun will appear before the İstanbul Anadolu 14th Civil Court of First Instance for the trial where they’re sued for a news story published on 6 October 2019 titled “Luxury fixture with a view of the Bosphorus” with Ocak’s signature. Ocak and Coşkun were sued by Cengiz Conglomerate’s Mehmet Cengiz with a request of 1 million Turkish Liras, claiming that “his reputation was tarnished.”
- First hearing of the trial where Yeni Yaşam newspaper reporter Hatice Şahin faces “membership in a terrorist organization” charges will be held at Diyarbakır 9th High Criminal Court this week. Şahin was taken in police custody with 144 other people on October 9, 2018 as part of an investigation against Democratic Society Congress (DTK), a pro-Kurdish NGO. The indictment lists her flights from Diyarbakır to İstanbul and conversations with news sources as evidence against journalist Şahin.
21 January Thursday
- Trial where Azadiya Welat and Özgürlükçü Demokrasi newspapers’ distributors Mikail Tunçdemir and Ferhat Duman face “membership in a terrorist organization” charges will resume at Van 5th High Criminal Court this week. Tunçdemir and Duman stand trial due to news reports published in both papers in 2018.
