Şahin Berber, İstanbul – A major test for press freedoms in Turkey continued as more journalists appeared in court on terrorism charges arising out of involvement in a solidarity campaign organized by now-defunct pro-Kurdish newspaper Özgür Gündem. Eren Keskin, Reyhan Çapan, Filiz Koçali, Ayşe Berktay, Nuray Özdoğan, Celalettin Can, Ayşe Batumlu and Reyhan Hacıoğlu appeared before İstanbul 14. High Criminal Court today.
All of the defendants had taken over as Editor-In-Chief of Özgür Gündem for short periods in order to demonstrate solidarity with the newspaper, which was under pressure to close from the government. All nine have been charged with distributing terrorist propaganda. Çapan and Keskin have also been charged over the publication of a few news articles which Özgür Gündem published on January 12 2016.
Keskin's lawyer Özcan Kılıç requested that his clients case be separated from the eight other defendants and merged with a case file with similar content being considered by İstanbul 23. High Criminal Court. The court adjourned the hearing until March 28 to allow for Kılıç’s request to be considered and to allow the prosecution to conduct further inquiries into the identity of the Editor-In-Chief of Özgür Gündem at various points in time. The court also summoned the case file from İstanbul 23. High Criminal Court for consideration.
Updated: November 30 2018
