Deniz Tekin
Journalist Yelda Çiçek was acquitted Thursday in a retrial stemming from her 2019 arrest while covering protests against the appointment of government trustees in the southeastern Turkish city of Diyarbakır. The case had previously resulted in a five-month prison sentence, but Turkey's Constitutional Court ruled that her right to a fair trial had been violated.
The second hearing of the retrial was held at the Diyarbakır 4th Criminal Court of First Instance. Çiçek, along with co-defendants Mehmet Nur Gümüş and Berfin Can, was present in court with their lawyers. The prosecutor requested acquittal for all three defendants. In her defense statement, Çiçek reiterated her previous remarks and requested her acquittal.
The court ruled to acquit all three defendants.
Çiçek was originally detained on Aug. 21, 2019, while reporting on protests in Diyarbakır against the removal of elected mayors and the appointment of state trustees, a controversial practice frequently used by the Turkish government in predominantly Kurdish municipalities. She was later charged with violating the Law on Meetings and Demonstrations (Law No. 2911).
On Sept. 22, 2021, the court sentenced her to five months in prison but deferred the announcement of the verdict, a legal mechanism in Turkey that suspends a sentence unless another offense is committed within a set period. After her appeals were rejected, the case was brought before the Constitutional Court.
The Constitutional Court eventually ruled that Çiçek’s right to a fair trial had been violated, paving the way for the retrial that concluded with Thursday’s acquittal.
