Journalism and freedom of expression trials: Week of February 7

This week, the hearings of several journalism and freedom of expression trials will be held. Below is the list of these hearings:

8 February Tuesday

• The ninth hearing of the trial where 28 people including Jiyan Haber’s proprietor journalist İdris Yayla face “defying the Law on Assemblies and Demonstrations no. 2911” charge will be held in the Batman 1st Criminal Court of First Instance, at 09:15. Journalist Yayla faces these charges for following the press statement in 2016 which renounced the trustee appointed to Batman Municipality. The former MP Sebahat Tuncel is also among those who are tried.
• The fourth hearing of the trial where former Cumhuriyet daily reporter Hazal Ocak faces a lawsuit for damages filed by former Minister of Treasury and Finance Berat Albayrak will be held in the İstanbul 8th Civil Court of First Instance, at 09:55. 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 Kanal İstanbul 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 October 14th, 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 first hearing of the retrial where journalist Selda Manduz faces “making propaganda for a terrorist organization” charge will be held in the Kars 2nd High Criminal Court, at 10:30. Journalist Manduz was acquitted of all charges at the seventh hearing held on April 8, 2021. The prosecutor, however, appealed the acquittal verdict and took the case to the Erzurum Regional Court of Appeals. The 2nd Penal Chamber of the Erzurum Regional Court of Appeals overturned Malduz’s acquittal and referred the case back to the local court on the grounds that considering the social media post which Manduz had shared on her personal account on January 24, 2017, she should have been convicted of the propaganda charge. The social media post was a news report which included a photograph depicting two individuals who the court interpreted to be YPG and YPJ militants.
• The second hearing of the trial where eight activists from the LGBTİQ+ Assemblies who had attended the 2021 İstanbul Pride March face  “defying the Law on Assemblies and Demonstrations no. 2911” charge will be held in the İstanbul 16th Criminal Court of First Instance, at 10:45. The indictment presents the banners inscribed with “You will never walk alone - LGBTİQ+ Assemblies”, the “Don’t be quiet, shout it out gays do exist” slogan and the Beyoğlu District Governorship’s ban on assemblies and demonstrations as evidence against the rights defenders.
• The seventh hearing of the trial where PEN Germany’s President and Die Welt correspondent Deniz Yücel whom MLSA represents in court, faces “insulting a public official” charges will be held in the İstanbul 24th Criminal Court of First Instance, at 11:10. The indictment presents a tweet Yücel posted on Feb 20, 2019 and which was about the prosecutor who prosecuted Yücel but was also leading the investigation on Osman Kavala as evidence to the charges. At the fifth hearing of the trial, the prosecutor presented his opinion and requested that Yücel be sentenced for the charges. At the last hearing on December 28, 2021, the court had declined Yücel’s lawyers’ request for the prosecution to be expanded on the grounds that it would not benefit the case.
• The eighth hearing of the trial where author and journalist Ömer Ağın faces “membership in a terrorist organization” charge will be held in the Diyarbakır 5th High Criminal Court, at 11:20. The 102-page indictment presents among other things Ağın’s phone conversation with Selahattin Demirtaş as evidence against the journalist.
• The fourth hearing of the trial where journalist Cengiz Çandar, whom MLSA represents in court and activist Kemal Işıktaş face “praising an offence and the offender” charges will be held in the İstanbul 30th Criminal Court of First Instance, at 11:35. The indictment presents a 2017 tweet in which Çandar and Işıktaş commemorated Ayşe Deniz Karacagil who died fighting ISIS. In the indictment, the prosecution claims that Karacagil died fighting for a terrorist organization in Raqqa and that praising her on social media would constitute an open threat to public peace.
• The second hearing of the trial where journalists  Olcay Büyüktaş Akça, Ozan Alper Yurtoğlu, Serkan Ozan and Hazal Ocak face “insult by means of an oral, written or visual medium message” charge upon complaint by Bilal Erdoğan will be held in the İstanbul 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance, at 13:30. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s son Bilal Erdoğan filed a criminal complaint against journalists after a news story penned by Ocak titled “Burak and Bilal Erdoğan’s friend Başçı won 5 public tenders worth 26,4 million Turkish liras: The friend is tenders rich” was published in Cumhuriyet daily on January 31, 2021. In the indictment, it is claimed that the expressions in the report like “Bilal Erdoğan’s lucky friend”, “the friend is tenders rich” and the displaying Bilal Erdoğan’s photos in the report can be considered to constitute insult and libel.

9 February Wednesday

• The ninth hearing of the trial where journalist Ruken Demir faces “membership in a terrorist organization” charge will be held in the İzmir 19th High Criminal Court, at 11:45. The indictment presents Demir’s attendance to events which she was following as a reporter and the phone conversations with her sources as evidence against her. At the last hearing on January 12, 2022, the prosecutor submitted his final opinion and requested that Demir be sentenced for the membership charge.
• The fourth hearing of the trial where seven Boğaziçi University students face “inciting the public to hatred and hostility” charge will be held in the İstanbul 21st Criminal Court of First Instance, at 13.30. Students are charged for a work of art that includes the Kaaba, which was displayed in an on-campus exhibition that was organized as part of the protests against the appointed rector Melih Bulu. In the indictment in which the prosecutor requests imprisonment for students up to three years, it is stated that in the picture the Kaaba was displayed together with  a basilisk figure and LGBTI+ flags. The prosecutor argued that both the figure and the LGBTI+ symbols are unacceptable as they represent things forbidden by Islam.

10 February Wednesday

• The fourth hearing of the trial where journalist Sonya Bayık faces “defying the Law on Assemblies and Demonstrations no. 2911” charges will be held in the Batman 1st Criminal Court of First Instance, at 09:15. Bayık was detained in 2019 while following an event at Hasankeyf and was subsequently released. The indictment also refers to the decision taken by Hasankeyf District Governorship on July 12, 2019 which effectively banned all protests, meetings and similar activities within the district at that time. At the second hearing, Bayık’s file along with two other defendants was separated from the case file.
• The 13th hearing of the trial where nine people including Etkin News Agency reporter Ali Sönmez Kayar face “membership in an armed terrorist organization” charge will be held in the İstanbul 32nd High Criminal Court, at 10:00. The indictment presents Kayar’s attendance to events which he was following as a reporter and the news reports about his arrest on ETHA as evidence against him.
• The second hearing of the retrial where novelist, columnist and the Editorial Advisory Board member of the since-shuttered Özgür Gündem daily Aslı Erdoğan faces “making propaganda for a terrorist organization” charge will be held in the İstanbul 23rd High Criminal Court, at 10:50. Erdoğan was acquitted of “disrupting the unity and integrity of the state” and “membership in a terrorist organization” charges at the 16th hearing of the “Özgür Gündem Main Trial”. At the hearing,  the court had also ruled to drop “making propaganda for a terrorist organization charges” on the grounds that the four-month statute of limitations for pressing charges per Press Law had expired. After the prosecution had appealed the court’s ruling, the 27th Criminal Chamber of the Istanbul Regional Court of Justice reviewed the case file and overturned the court’s decision to drop “propaganda” charges for Erdoğan. The Appellate Court remanded the case file to İstanbul 23rd High Criminal Court and ordered further investigation.
• The sixth hearing of the trial where poet, author and journalist Azad Zal faces “membership in a terrorist organisation” charge will be held in the Diyarbakır 8th High Criminal Court, at 11:15. The indictment presents Zal’s delegacy at the Democratic Society Congress (DTK), his memberships in since shuttered the Kurdish Language Research and Development Association (KURDİ-DER) and Kurdish Authors’ Association and his reception of condolences over the phone after her sister’s death who was a PKK member and his efforts to find a guest for television show as evidence against him.
• The 12th hearing of the trial where Kurdish newspaper Xwebun columnist and Kurdish linguist Mehmet Şahin faces “founding and managing a terrorist organization” charge for his activities within Democratic Society Congress (DTK) will be held in the Diyarbakır 5th High Criminal Court, at 11:40. The indictment cites among other things Şahin’s phone conversations with news sources and the press statement he had attended as evidence against him.