Court proceedings continue this week in Turkey for numerous journalists, media professionals, and rights advocates facing charges ranging from “insulting the president” to “membership in a terrorist organization,” in what rights groups call a sustained crackdown on freedom of expression and press freedom in the country.
April 21, Monday
At 2 p.m., the Antalya 25th Criminal Court of First Instance will hold the 23rd hearing in the trial of 17 individuals, including journalists Eylem Sonbahar, Sema Karakurt and Metin Cihan, who are represented by the Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA). They are charged with “resisting to prevent officials from performing their duty” and “insult,” following their detention during protests held during the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Antalya on Nov. 15, 2015.
April 22, Tuesday
At 9:30 a.m., the Ankara 18th High Criminal Court will continue a long-running case against 16 individuals — including lawyers — who are accused of “spreading terrorist propaganda” for their alleged activities at Ankara University's Cebeci campus in 2015.
At 10:20 a.m., the sixth hearing in the trial of Yeni Yaşam newspaper’s Editor-in-Chief Mehmet Ferhat Çelik and Managing Editor Osman Akın will be held at the Istanbul 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance. Both face charges of “insult” and “slander.”
At 11 a.m., the Istanbul 24th High Criminal Court will hear the second session in the case against human rights advocate Nimet Tanrıkulu, who is accused of “membership in a terrorist organization.”
At 2 p.m., a hearing will be held in Istanbul’s 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance in the trial of prominent actor İlyas Salman, who is charged with “insulting the president” over comments he made in an interview published in BirGünnewspaper on Aug. 1, 2022, under the headline “I don't consider Erdoğan worthy of that seat.”
At 10:30 a.m., journalist Abdurrahman Gök, known for his reporting for Mezopotamya Agency, will appear before the Diyarbakır 5th High Criminal Court. He is accused of “membership in a terrorist organization” and “terrorist propaganda,” based on his published news stories, social media posts, and books found in his home. Gök had been jailed for 225 days before being released on Dec. 5, 2023.
April 24, Thursday
At 9:20 a.m., the Istanbul 27th High Criminal Court will hold the ninth hearing in the trial of Demokrat Haber’s Editor-in-Chief and publisher Mehmet Göcekli, who is charged with “terrorist propaganda” over his social media activity.
At 10 a.m., journalist Özlem Gürses will appear before the Istanbul 30th Criminal Court of First Instance for the second hearing in her trial on charges of “openly insulting the military or law enforcement institutions of the state.” The charges stem from comments she made about developments in Syria on her YouTube program.
At the same hour, the Ankara 7th Criminal Court of First Instance will continue hearings in the "Ajans Muhbir" case, where several individuals are accused of “inciting hatred and enmity,” “threatening to create fear and panic among the public,” and “publicly disseminating misleading information.”
At 11:20 a.m., the 14th hearing of journalist Ersin Çaksu and MLSA-represented journalist Aziz Oruç will be held at the Istanbul 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance. The pair are accused of “openly insulting the Republic of Turkey, its government, judiciary, military and law enforcement.”
At 11:30 a.m., journalist Baransel Ağca faces his eighth hearing at the Istanbul 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance on charges of “insulting the president” over two social media posts.
At 11:40 a.m., Democratic Modernity magazine’s Managing Editor Ramazan Yurttapan and editor Haydar Ergül will appear for the seventh hearing of their trial on similar “insulting the president” charges at the same court.
Also at 11:30 a.m., a hearing will take place at the Silvan 1st Criminal Court of First Instance in relation to incidents during a 2015 curfew in Silvan, a district in southeastern Turkey's Diyarbakır province. The case involves then-deputy police chief of Silvan and other officers as complainants, and includes charges of “resisting to prevent officials from performing their duty,” “insulting a public official,” and “insulting the president.” Remarks by then-parliamentarians, including Figen Yüksekdağ, and press statements have been cited as evidence.
At 1:30 p.m., the Istanbul 32nd High Criminal Court will hold the 18th hearing in the trial of 12 individuals, including Seda Şaraldı, a lawyer and member of the Progressive Lawyers Association (ÇHD). They are charged with “membership in a terrorist organization” based on their professional activities.
Press freedom groups and international observers have consistently criticized the Turkish government's use of broad anti-terrorism and insult laws to silence journalists, rights defenders, and opposition voices. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders, Turkey remains one of the leading jailers of journalists in the world.
