ELİF AKGÜL
The "KCK Press Trial," in which Kurdish journalists, writers, and newspaper distributors are being prosecuted, has now entered its 13th year. The 32nd hearing of the case was held at the Istanbul 3rd High Criminal Court, and the next hearing was postponed to January 23, 2025.
In this latest session, neither journalist Dilek Demiral, who is represented by the Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA), nor the other defendants were present. However, several defense attorneys, including Didare Hazal Sümeli from MLSA’s Legal Unit, Nermin Selçuk, Habat Demircan, and Yıldız İmrek, attended the hearing.
Presiding Judge Tamer Keskin noted that the arrest warrant for defendant İsmet Kayhan had not been executed. He added that if Kayhan is apprehended and his defense taken, the case file would then be sent to the prosecution to prepare its final opinion.
During the hearing, Yüksel Genç’s lawyer, Demircan, requested the consolidation of this case with another case before the Istanbul 25th High Criminal Court, as both involve the same events and time periods. The court accepted the excuses from lawyers who were unable to attend and decided to await the execution of the arrest warrant for Kayhan. The court also ordered the review of the case file from the Istanbul 25th High Criminal Court concerning Genç.
The next hearing is scheduled for January 23, 2025, at 2:40 p.m.
Background of the case
The KCK Press Trial began following a 2011 operation targeting Kurdish media outlets, including the Dicle News Agency (DİHA), Özgür Gündem, Azadiya Welat, Demokratik Modernite, and Fırat Distribution. In the operation, 46 people were detained, and 32 of them were arrested.
The indictment listed interviews conducted by the journalists, photographs taken, press statements followed, notes, conversations with news sources, and even contact information saved on their phones as criminal evidence. The trial initially began in 2012 at the Istanbul 15th High Criminal Court, part of the now-defunct Special Authority Courts, with 44 defendants, including 36 media workers, 17 of whom were gradually released over two years.
The remaining detainees were only released in 2014, after the Special Authority Courts were abolished. Since then, the trial has been ongoing at the Istanbul 3rd High Criminal Court for 12 years.
Many of the media outlets involved, including DİHA, Özgür Gündem, and Azadiya Welat, were shut down following the failed coup attempt on July 15, 2016, under an emergency decree issued on October 29, 2016, as part of the government's broad crackdown on Kurdish and opposition media.
