BAYRAM KERİMOĞLU
Journalist Zehra Doğan, who had previously served 2 years and 9 months in prison, was acquitted in a retrial following the Court of Cassation's annulment of her conviction.
The first hearing of the retrial took place today, May 9, 2024, at the Mardin 2nd High Criminal Court. Doğan's lawyer, Emrah Akbulut, was present. Although the hearing was scheduled to begin at 9:10 a.m., it started at 11:17 a.m.
In the final opinion, the prosecution requested Doğan's acquittal on the grounds that the charges against her were not defined as crimes under the law.
Following the prosecutor's statement, Doğan’s lawyer Akbulut argued that there was no evidence in the case file that warranted a conviction and requested his client's acquittal.
The court ruled for Doğan's acquittal, stating that the charges against her were not defined as crimes under the law, as per the prosecution's opinion.
Case background
Zehra Doğan, an editor for the now-closed Jin News Agency (JİNHA), was arrested on July 23, 2016, in Mardin for her news reports and social media posts during the curfews and clashes in Nusaybin, a district in Mardin Province, in 2015. She was charged with "being a member of a terrorist organization" and "making terrorist propaganda."
After four and a half months in pre-trial detention, she was released. However, in 2017, the Mardin 2nd High Criminal Court sentenced her to 2 years, 9 months, and 22 days in prison for "making terrorist propaganda." The appellate court upheld this decision, finalizing her conviction.
On June 17, 2017, Doğan was arrested during a routine check while traveling from Diyarbakır to Mardin to visit her family, due to her finalized sentence. She served over two years in prison and was released from Tarsus Women's Closed Prison on February 24, 2019.
The 1st Judicial Reform Package, which came into effect in 2020, allowed appeals to the Court of Cassation for sentences under five years that were previously finalized by appellate courts. Doğan's lawyers appealed to the Court of Cassation, arguing that the lower courts' decisions were unlawful and based on incomplete examinations.
On October 19, 2023, the Court of Cassation's 3rd Criminal Chamber annulled Doğan's prison sentence, citing legal errors. The court unanimously ruled that the evidence did not support the charges, stating: "The content of the posts used to convict the defendant did not legitimize or praise the violent methods of the terrorist organization. Thus, there is a legal error in convicting the defendant based on a misinterpretation of the evidence. An acquittal should have been granted instead."
This ruling led to the retrial and Doğan's eventual acquittal.
