Journalism and freedom of expression trials: Week of October 10

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

October 11th, Tuesday

• The third hearing of the trial in which journalist İsmail Arı faces “illegally obtaining or giving data” charge will be held in the İstanbul 58th Criminal Court of First Instance, at 09.40. Journalist Arı stands trial upon complaint by Kerem Kınık, the President of Turkish Red Crescent. The indictment presents a news report penned by Arı in which he uncovered the amounts of heavy fines that Kınık and another top executive of the Turkish Red Crescent received from the Directorate General for Relations with Civil Society for malpractice. At the second hearing of the trial held on May 12, 2022, the court decided to accept the intervention request of Kerem Kınık.
• The third hearing of the trial in which 10 people, including EMEP Dersim Provincial President Ergin Tekin, the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Dersim Provincial Co-Presidents İbrahim Kasun and Nurşat Yeşil, the Dersim Branch Chairperson of Disk Genel-İş Şükran Yılmaz face “defying the Law no. 2911 on Demonstrations and Assemblies” and “prevention of public duty” charges will be held in the Tunceli 1st Criminal Court of First Instance, at 09.55. The defendants were among those who were taken into police custody during a Dersim Labour and Democracy Forces protest against high cost of living. The prosecutor presents the statements of the complainant police officers and the footage of the protest as evidence against the defendants. On July 19 2022, at the second hearing of the trial, the court accepted the intervention request of one of the complainant police officers.
• The first hearing of the trial in which the Demokratik Modernite Magazine’s managing editor Ramazan Yurttapan and editor Haydar Ergül faces “insulting the president” charge will be held in the İstanbul 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance, at 10.05. The indictment presents some sentences in the article by Aysun Genç titled “Yeni Osmanlıcılık Türk Devletinin En Yozlaşmış Halidir [Neo-Ottomanism is the Most Corrupt Form of the Turkish State]” which was published in the 37th issue of the magazine as evidence for the charges.
• The 15th hearing of the trial in which nine people, including Etkin News Agency (ETHA) reporter Ali Sönmez Kayar face “membership in an armed terrorist organization” charge will be held in the İstanbul 32nd High Criminal Court, at 11.10. 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.

October 12th, Wednesday

• The third hearing of the trial in which journalist Rüstem Batum whom MLSA represents in court, faces “insulting the president” charge will be held in the İstanbul 12th Criminal Court of First Instance, at 10.50. The indictment which was prepared in 2021, presents five 2018 tweets which were included in an “open source investigation report” prepared by the Gaziantep Security Directorate on May 8th, 2018.
• The third hearing of the trial in which 15 people, including then-KESK Spokesperson Bedri Yamaç and the Peoples’ Democratic Party’s Van Provincial Co-Chair Ümit Dede who were taken into police custody during the October 10th Massacre Commemoration called by the Confederation of Public Employees' Trade Unions (KESK) in 2018 face “prevention of public duty” charge will be held in the Van 7th Criminal Court of First Instance, at 14.00. The indictment presents the statements of eight complainant police officers as evidence for the charges.
• The second hearing of the trial in which Evrensel daily’s managing editor Görkem Kınacı, BirGün daily’s News Director Uğur Şahin and birgun.net’s managing editor Uğur Koç face “libel” and “insulting a public official” charges upon complaint by Constitutional Court Judge İrfan Fidan will be held in the Beykoz 6th Criminal Court of First Instance, at 14.00. The indictment presents the news reports published on the websites of Evrensel and BirGün on October 11, 2020 as evidence for the charges. The prosecutor claims that by publishing the entirety of MP Ahmet Şık’s tweets in which Şık shared some allegations about “a high level member of the judiciary”, journalists defamed and insulted İrfan Fidan even though neither Şık’s tweets nor the news reports contain the name of İrfan Fidan. In order to support his claim that Fidan was defamed and insulted by the journalists, the prosecutor cites the appointment of İrfan Fidan to various posts, the fact that “he is a high level member of the judiciary” and the popularity of his name. The prosecutor requests that journalists who he claims to have “acted in unison” be sentenced. On June 22 2022, at the first hearing of the trial, the court decided to accept the intervention request of İrfan Fidan but decided not to hear Fidan on the grounds that it will not contribute to the case file.

October 13th, Thursday

• The fourth hearing of the retrial in which journalist Barış Barıştıran faces “making propaganda for a terrorist organization” charge will be held in the Diyarbakır 8th High Criminal Court, at 09.00. Barıştıran, who stood trial for live streaming the Democratic Society Congress, was acquitted. The prosecution appealed the acquittal decision on the grounds that Barıştıran should have been sentenced in line with his opinion. Diyarbakır Regional Court of Appeals overturned the acquittal decision on September 10, 2021. At the May 24th hearing of the trial, the court decided to wait for the expert’s opinion on the footage which is cited as evidence for the charge.
• The 13th hearing of the trial in which 20 defendants, including journalist and sociologist Adil Demirci face “membership in a terrorist organization” and “making propaganda on behalf of a terrorist organization” charges will be held in the İstanbul 25th High Criminal Court, at 09.40. Adil Demirci was released on February 14, 2019 after being in pre-trial detention for 10 months.
• The third hearing of the trial in which Jin News reporter Beritan Canözer faces “making propaganda for a terrorist organization” charge will be held in the Diyarbakır 4th High Criminal Court, at 09.55. In the indictment, 19 social media posts from four different accounts are presented as evidence against journalist Canözer. The prosecutor puts forward eight social media posts shared between 2014 and 2015 which were gathered in a 2019 “investigation report” and eleven posts from three different accounts as ground for his request for the imprisonment of journalist Canözer claiming that she “committed the offense in a consecutive manner.” On August 13, 2021, Canözer was taken into custody when her house was raided by the police. Canözer was released after having been held for four days in custody. On March 31st, at the first hearing of the trial, the court decided to ask for the files of previous cases against Canözer. On June 21 2022, at the second hearing of the trial, the court decided to wait for the appeals court’s decision on another case in which Canözer was tried.
• The 17th hearing of the trial in which journalist Can Dündar faces “publishing or distributing the declarations or publications of terrorist organizations” charge will be held in the İstanbul 22nd High Criminal Court, at 10.15. Dündar stands trial for showing solidarity with the shuttered Özgür Gündem daily as an Editor-in-Chief on Watch. The indictment cites a news article published in the newspaper on the day when Dündar was the Editor-in-Chief on Watch as evidence against the journalist. The prosecution requests imprisonment up to three years for Dündar. An arrest warrant was issued against Dündar on December 22, 2016.

October 14th, Friday

• The sixth hearing of the trial in which 35 people, including journalist Buse Söğütlü who had attended the March 8th Feminist Night March in 2020, face “defying the Law on Assemblies and Demonstrations no. 2911”, “prevention of public duty” and “damage to public property” charges will be held in the İstanbul 58th Criminal Court of First Instance, at 09.30. At the first hearing, the court’s decided to send a copy of the indictment to the İstanbul Financial Office of the Ministry of Treasury and Finance on the grounds that it might have been harmed by the offense committed. It caused a public reaction when the judge said “Men are getting killed too. Should we protest as well?, at the second hearing of the trial held on December 30th, 2021. On April 28 2022, at the fifth hearing of the trial, it was revealed that one of the crime scene reports which was cited as evidence in the indictment, was filled out by a police reporter who was not at the scene that day.
• The 31st hearing of the trial in which 35 people, including since-shuttered Dicle News Agency (DİHA) reporter Engin Eren face “membership in a terrorist organization”, “defying the Law no. 2911 on Assemblies and Demonstrations” and “defying the Law no. 2565 Military Restricted Zones and Security Zones” charges will be held in the Batman 2nd High Criminal Court, at 09.30. Engin was detained in 2015 while he was following “the human shield protest” organized by civil society organizations and Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) in Batman to stop the fight between PKK and the Turkish Armed Forces. The prosecutor presented his final opinion at the 30th hearing of the trial held on June 3, 2022. The prosecutor requested that 29 people, including Engin Eren be sentenced for “being a member of an armed organization by committing an offense on behalf of the organization”, “prevention of public duty”,  “defying the Law no. 2911 on Assemblies and Demonstrations” and “defying the Law no. 2565 Military Restricted Zones and Security Zones.”