At least 12 journalists, 11 lawyers, as well as activists and politicians, will appear before courts across Turkey this week on charges including defamation and terrorism propaganda. Meanwhile, a key hearing in the case to shut down the Tarlabaşı Community Support Association is also set to take place.
March 17, Monday
10:00 – The 10th hearing in the case seeking to shut down the Tarlabaşı Community Support Association will be held at Istanbul’s 18th Civil Court of First Instance.
11:00 – The 22nd hearing in the case against Vice News journalists Philip Pendlebury and Jake Hanrahan, along with their translator and driver, will take place at Diyarbakır’s 8th High Criminal Court. The journalists were arrested while filming a documentary in Turkey in 2015 and later deported. They are accused of "aiding a terrorist organization."
March 18, Tuesday
11:40 – The third hearing in the defamation case against journalist Onur Öncü will take place at Istanbul’s 29th Criminal Court of First Instance. Öncü, whose legal defense is being handled by the Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA), is on trial over a social media post following a complaint from Milat newspaper’s Ankara representative Özlem Doğan.
March 19, Wednesday
09:30 – The first hearing in the case against journalist Eylem Babayiğit, who has been in pretrial detention since January 24, will be held at Istanbul’s 22nd High Criminal Court. Babayiğit is accused of "membership in a terrorist organization."
March 20, Thursday
09:40 – The third hearing in the retrial of the 2016 Newroz festival organizing committee members, who were previously acquitted of "terrorist propaganda" charges, will be held at Diyarbakır’s 4th High Criminal Court. Their acquittal was overturned by the appeals court.
09:50 – The 30th hearing in the case against former editors-in-chief of the now-closed Özgür Gündem newspaper Hüseyin Aykol and Zana Bilir Kaya, former responsible news editor İnan Kızılkaya, and politician Hatip Dicle will take place at Istanbul’s 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance. They are accused of "insulting the Turkish Nation, the Republic of Turkey, and state institutions."
10:00 – Journalist Evrim Kepenek will appear before the Selçuk 1st Criminal Court of First Instance in a defamation case.
10:00 – Naci Sapan, the publishing coordinator of Tigris Haber, will stand trial at Diyarbakır’s 5th Criminal Court of First Instance. He was previously sentenced to a 135-day judicial fine under a summary trial procedure for allegedly insulting the government-appointed trustee administration in a column titled "Trustees, little trustees!" His appeal has led to a full trial.
10:23 – The next hearing in the case against journalist Mehmet Kılıç, who is on trial for "insulting the president" over an interview, will be held at Ankara’s 36th Criminal Court of First Instance. MLSA is handling his legal defense.
13:30 – The second hearing in the trial against Merdan Yanardağ, the chief editor of TELE1, will be held at Istanbul’s 30th Criminal Court of First Instance. Yanardağ faces charges of "publicly degrading the military or security forces of the state" over comments made in a February 5, 2024, YouTube broadcast titled "How has AKP’s political ethics affected Turkey?"
March 21, Friday
10:02 – The sixth hearing in the retrial of journalist Perihan Kaya on charges of "terrorist propaganda" will take place at Diyarbakır’s 10th High Criminal Court.
10:00 – The second hearing in the case against Istanbul Bar Association President İbrahim Kaboğlu and the bar's executive board members will be held at Istanbul’s 2nd Civil Court of First Instance. They are facing dismissal over their public statement regarding the killing of two journalists in Syria.
