EYLEM SONBAHAR
The trial of journalist Elif Bayburt began Tuesday at the 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance in Istanbul, over an interview she conducted with Rob Sadler, a member of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), about the killing of a human rights activist by Israeli forces in the West Bank. Bayburt is charged under Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code for “publicly denigrating the Republic of Turkey, the government, judicial institutions, and the military and police organizations.”
The case stems from a 2023 interview published in Atılım, a left-wing Turkish magazine, where Bayburt spoke with Sadler about the killing of Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi, a Turkish-American activist who had traveled to the West Bank to show solidarity with the Palestinian people. Eygi was fatally shot by Israeli soldiers on Sept. 6, 2024, in the Palestinian village of Beita.
Bayburt began her defense statement by noting that more than 200 journalists have been killed in Gaza since October 2023. She said her motivation for conducting the interview was the escalation of Israeli attacks into what she called a genocide against Palestinians.
“Eygi had gone to Palestine in solidarity with its people. She was murdered in Beita by Israeli soldiers,” said Bayburt. “Eyewitness Rob Sadler contacted us after the incident. Not only I, but also TRT and the BBC interviewed him.”
Bayburt told the court she asked Sadler about what happened and his observations in the West Bank, as well as his views on U.S. and Turkish relations with Israel. “As a journalist, I wrote down his answers without censorship. His response was included in the indictment as the basis of the charges,” she said.
Her lawyer argued that the statements in the indictment did not belong to Bayburt herself, but to the interviewee. “The article criticizes the government, not the state; there must be a distinction. This is entirely a matter of freedom of expression,” the lawyer said.
The prosecutor requested that missing procedural issues be addressed. The court postponed the trial to Dec. 16 at 9:55 a.m.
