Journalist Osman Akın, the responsible managing editor of Yeni Yaşam newspaper, was acquitted after a retrial at the Istanbul 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance. The court ruled that the elements of the alleged crime were not present.
The case stemmed from a news report titled "Torture of Afrin Prisoners," published in Yeni Yaşam on March 1, 2019. Akın faced charges of "publicly insulting the Turkish state and its military or security forces."
In the fourth hearing, Akın was absent, but his lawyer Özcan Kılıç attended. The prosecutor repeated his March 29, 2024, sentencing request. Kılıç contested the prosecution’s stance, citing a Constitutional Court decision that identified a rights violation and requested his client’s acquittal.
The court sided with the defense, concluding that the charges lacked legal basis and acquitted Akın.
Background on the case
The case originated when Osman Akın was accused of insulting the state through a report about alleged mistreatment of detainees from Afrin, a region in northern Syria that Turkey’s military entered in 2018 during its Operation Olive Branch. The initial trial concluded on January 9, 2020, with Akın receiving a five-month prison sentence. However, the court deferred the announcement of the verdict, effectively placing him on probation.
The retrial followed a Constitutional Court ruling indicating that the previous proceedings had violated Akın’s rights, reflecting ongoing concerns about press freedom in Turkey.
