Journalist İsmail Eskin acquitted after retrial over social media posts
Journalist İsmail Eskin was acquitted in a retrial after the Court of Cassation overturned his initial prison sentence of 3 years, 1 month, and 15 days for alleged "terrorist propaganda" on social media. The second hearing of the retrial took place at the Diyarbakır 4th High Criminal Court, where Eskin was represented by his lawyer, Resul Temur.
During the trial, the prosecutor continued to argue for Eskin's conviction. However, Temur emphasized that according to the Court of Cassation's decision, social media posts within the boundaries of news reporting cannot be considered terrorist propaganda under Article 7/2 of the Anti-Terror Law. He requested Eskin's acquittal.
The court ruled in favor of Eskin, stating that the legal elements of the alleged crime were not present.
Background of the case
Eskin, a former reporter for the Dicle News Agency (DİHA), which was shut down by a decree law (KHK), was prosecuted for social media posts he made between 2015 and 2016. His posts covered sensitive topics, including curfews in Diyarbakır, Şırnak, and Mardin, as well as ISIS attacks on Kobani. In 2017, the Diyarbakır 4th High Criminal Court sentenced him to over three years in prison for "spreading terrorist propaganda through the press."
After an appeal to the Gaziantep Regional Court was rejected, the case went to the Court of Cassation, which overturned the conviction and sent the case back to the Diyarbakır court for retrial, leading to Eskin’s eventual acquittal.
