December 6th, Tuesday
- The 22nd hearing of the trial in which the since-access-blocked aktifhaber.com’s Editor-in-Chief Yetkin Yıldız faces “slander” and “libel” charges will be held in the Bakırköy 31st Criminal Court of First Instance, at 09.45. Yıldız is on trial after former Interior Minister Efkan Ala filed a criminal complaint against him. The indictment presents the news reports about tweets by an anonymous account called FuatAvni as evidence against the journalist. The court keeps adjourning the trial because it is waiting for the result of a case heard by the İstanbul 25th High Criminal Court in which Yıldız also stands trial.
- The third hearing of the SLAPP case brought against journalists Can Bursalı, Barış Terkoğlu and Independent Turkish daily by the former lawyer of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Mustafa Doğan İnal will be held in the İstanbul 11th Civil Court of First Instance, at 10.30. In a petition submitted on December 21, 2020, İnal’s lawyers claim that the article published in Independent Turkish on December 3, 2020 and in which Can Bursalı interviewed Barış Terkoğlu about the claims surrounding İnal in the book titled Metastaz 2: Cendere, constitute an attack on the person of their client Mustafa Doğan İnal as in the article was portrayed as “a criminal person.” In their petition, İnal’s lawyers Ferah Yıldız and Ömer Faruk Karagüzel also mention Barış Pehlivan (the co-author of Metastaz 2: Cendere) even though he is not one of the libellees and state that “Barış Terkoğlu and Barış Pehlivan are individuals who cannot get enough of manufacturing lies as they often do, who disregard journalism ethics and who strive to create chaos, sedition and panic in the society with lies and perversions.” At the first hearing held on May 12, 2022, the court decided to issue a writ to the İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality to inquire how much fee was paid to İnal as a counselor and for which case. Both in the book and in the article, it is claimed that İnal was paid 15 million Turkish Liras to represent the municipality in a case even though he was not the staff lawyer of the municipality. At the second hearing of the trial held on 13 September 2022, the court decided to wait for the writ issued to the İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality and adjourned the trial.
- The sixth hearing of the SLAPP brought against former Cumhuriyet daily reporter Hazal Ocak by former Minister of Treasury and Finance and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s son-in-law Berat Albayrak will be held in the İstanbul 8th Civil Court of First Instance, at 11.05. Ocak is sued for a news report published in Cumhuriyet on January 20, 2020 titled “Son-in-law knows the deal” which revealed that Albayrak had purchased land on the İstanbul Canal Project route. The petition claims that Ocak’s reporting “twists the truth, is unrealistic and insulting” while also aiming to “defame Albayrak and slander his reputation.” Albayrak demands up to 200 thousand Turkish liras for non-pecuniary damages. At the last hearing on February 8th, the Court had decided to wait for the finalization of the acquittal ruling handed down in the criminal lawsuit concerning the same news report.
- The second hearing of the trial in which journalist Hayri Tunç faces “openly inciting the public to hatred and hostility” charge will be held in the İstanbul 42nd Criminal Court of First Instance, at 11.20. The prosecutor who had also indicted journalist Sedef Kabaş and pop star Gülşen cites several social media posts as evidence against journalist Tunç. These posts Tunç had shared on his personal social media account include the footage of the December 2016 İstanbul bombings taken from the İhlas News Agency, Tunç’s tweet in which he commented on the bombings and said “Even though the mainstream media is yet to announce it, it is claimed that at least 7 people died”, the news articles published on Gazete Karınca about the police brutality directed towards students at “Barınamıyoruz [We Cannot Find Shelter] Protests” on September 28, 2021, the news article published on Gazete Karınca about a nightwatchman who killed a woman in Kağıthane on September 25, 2021 and a news video about the Maraş Massacre documentary by Aziz Tunç. The prosecutor claims that these social media posts were found by the Department of Cyber Crimes of the Ankara Provincial Security Directorate during an investigation initiated by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office after an anonymous email tipped off the police. The prosecutor argues these posts are “beyond the borders of informing the public” and therefore cannot be considered within the confines freedom of expression and further claims that by sharing these posts Tunç “incited the public to hold hostile feelings” and “provoked one section of the public to hatred and hostility towards another section of the public because of social, racial, religious, sectarian differences” and therefore these posts created “imminent danger to public security.” At the first hearing of the trial held on 6 October 2022, the court decided to adjourn the trial so that the case file could be completed.
December 7th, Wednesday
- The eighth hearing of the trial in which journalist Hayko Bağdat whom MLSA represents in court, faces “insulting the president” and “openly inciting the public to hatred and hostility” charges will be held in the İstanbul 50th Criminal Court of First Instance, at 09.30. Bağdat’s trial began when İstanbul 50th Criminal Court of First Instance accepted the indictment dated July 24, 2019 by the Prosecutor’s Office. The first indictment presents Bağdat’s article titled “My last article on Erdoğan” published at ozguruz.org on April 14, 2017 and four tweets as evidence against the journalist. Two other indictments against Bağdat were prepared later on June 15 and June 25, 2020. The cases opened after these indictments were accepted by the court and were later merged with the ongoing case at İstanbul 50th Criminal Court of First Instance. The June 25th indictment has added “publicly inciting the public to hatred and hostility” to the charges journalist Bağdat faces.
December 8th, Thursday
- The first hearing of the trial in which the former executive editor of bianet Nazan Özcan faces “insult” and “libel” charges upon complaint by the former lawyer of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Mustafa Doğan İnal will be held in the İstanbul 34th Criminal Court of First Instance, at 10.10. The prosecutor who had also indicted journalist Sedef Kabaş and pop star Gülşen cites the news article titled “Erdoğan'ın avukatının rüşvet iddialarını haberleştiren gazetecilere dava [Lawsuit against journalists who reported the allegations of bribery about Erdoğan’s lawyer]” which was published in bianet on 7 December 2021 as evidence against Özcan. Citing the news article about the lawsuit brought against İleri Haber’s former editor-in-chief Doğan Ergün and İleri Haber’s current editor-in-chief İzel Sezer by Mustafa Doğan İnal after the journalists reported about the bribery allegations against İnal, the prosecutor claims that İnal has been “openly insulted” and “defamed via the press” and requests that Özcan be sentenced.
- The fourth hearing of the trial in which İleri Haber’s former editor-in-chief Doğan Ergün and İleri Haber’s current editor-in-chief İzel Sezer face “libel”, “insult” and “unlawful disclosure of data obtained by recording non-public conversations between people via the press” charges upon complaint by the former lawyer of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Mustafa Doğan İnal will be held in the İstanbul 33rd Criminal Court of First Instance, at 11.45. The indictment, which was prepared after the investigation per the complaint of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s former lawyer Mustafa Doğan İnal, cites two news reports published on the website of İleri Haber and dated December 2, 2020 and December 16, 2020 as evidence against the journalists. The hearing planned to be held on March 10, 2022 was postponed to a later date as the judges and prosecutors were granted administrative leave due to adverse weather conditions. At the third hearing of the trial which was held on 13 September 2022, the court rejected the requests of the defense for MP Ahmet Şık and journalist Barış Terkoğlu to be heard as witnesses. The court reasoned that hearing Şık and Terkoğlu “will not contribute to the case file” despite the fact that their names are included in the indictment.
- The fourth hearing of the trial in which the Co-Chair of the Ankara Branch of the Human Rights Association (İHD) Fatin Kanat faces “making propaganda for a terrorist organization” charge will be held in the Ankara 25th High Criminal Court, at 14.15. The 2022 indictment presents nine press statements made by the Freedom for Ill Prisoners İnitiative in 2019 and a press statement made by the Justice for Roboski Initiative in 2018. The prosecutor claims that the press statements made in front of the İHD Ankara building were made “as per orders from the terrorist organization.” In the indictment, the prosecutor also notes that the criminal investigation initiated against Kanat over the suspicion of “membership in an armed terrorist organized” was ended with a decision of non-prosecution. On September 6 2022, at the second hearing of the trial, the court decided to send the case file to the prosecutor so that he can prepare his final opinion as to the accusations. At the third hearing of the trial which was held on 19 October 2022, the prosecutor presented his final opinion as to the accusations. Citing peaceful protests and press statements included in the indictment, the prosecutor requested that Kanat be sentenced for “making propaganda for a terrorist organization.” In his final opinion, the prosecutor also claimed that İHD “acts in accordance with the orders from the terrorist organization.”
December 9th, Friday
- The sixth hearing of the trial in which 3 human rights defenders who had attended the press statement on February 3rd, 2021 called by the İzmir Labor and Democracy Forces in support of the Boğaziçi University, face “insulting the president” charge will be held in the İzmir 41st Criminal Court of First Instance, at 10.30. The indictment presents the witness statements of two police officers as evidence against the rights defenders. The rights defenders stand trial in another case in which they face “defying the Law no. 2911 on Demonstrations and Assemblies” and “prevention of public duty” charges. In addition to these charges, the rights defenders also face “insulting a public official” charge because of the testimonies against them by the same police officers. At the fourth hearing of the trial held on September 2, 2022, the court decided to issue a writ to the İzmir Provincial Security Directorate so that the complainant police officer who failed to attend the hearings and who claims that the rights defenders insulted and cursed the president be brought to the next hearing. At the fifth hearing of the trial held on 7 October 2022, the court decided to wait for the footage of the incident to be submitted to the case file for evaluation and to send the case file to the prosecution so that the final opinion as to the accusations can be prepared.
