Rabia Çetin
Veteran journalist Hasan Cemal appeared before the Istanbul 45th Criminal Court of First Instance on charges of “insulting the president” over a column he wrote for the news website T24 on Jan. 16, 2016. In his defense statement, Cemal declared, “I am here because I defended peace.”
The case was originally heard at the Ankara 24th Criminal Court of First Instance, which convicted Cemal in 2017. After Turkey’s Court of Cassation overturned that verdict, the case was reassigned for retrial. Cemal and his lawyer, Fikret İlkiz, participated in the second hearing of the retrial via video link (SEGBİS) from Istanbul.
“I don’t need to defend myself”
Following the standard identity check, Cemal delivered his defense statement, beginning with a declaration that he did not feel the need to defend himself. “I did not come here to defend myself. I don’t need to. I know very well how a terrifying state apparatus was built in this country to force people to live in lies,” he said.
“The pain I’ve experienced and witnessed in life taught me that. I know how, from the founding of the Republic of Turkey onward, those who refused to live in lies were thrown into witch hunts and suffered greatly. Today, prisons are full of people who reject living in lies. I am here because I too rejected it.”
“I am here because I defended peace”
Cemal, who is approaching his 82nd birthday and has been a journalist for 57 years, continued: “I am here because I rejected terrorism and violence. I am here because I defended peace. My thirteenth book is titled That’s How Life Goes By. Life passes for all of us—with its rights and wrongs. I defend peace. I defend the rule of law. I defend freedom of expression. I support the peaceful coexistence of all differences under the same roof. In short, I defend democracy, rights, and justice.”
He also reminded the court that his Jan. 16, 2016 column, titled So-Called Dictator, led to a prior conviction. On March 1, 2017, the Ankara 24th Criminal Court sentenced him to 11 months and 20 days in prison for insulting the president, with the sentence suspended. The Court of Cassation later overturned that ruling.
“I don’t want to drag this out,” Cemal added. “I reject living in lies. That’s why I published a book last year titled Modern-Day Dictators. Today, I want to once again underline that the regime in Turkey, which imposes a life of lies on its people, has nothing to do with law, freedom, or democracy. Those who want to live in truth—not lies—those who defend democracy and freedom, will ultimately prevail.”
Following Cemal’s defense statement, the court ruled to return the case file to the relevant court for further proceedings in accordance with the Court of Cassation’s reversal decision.
