Three police officers who attempted to detain journalist Beyza Kural by handcuffing her hands behind her back while she was reporting a story have been fined 9,000 Turkish Lira. The announcement of the verdict has been deferred. However, the judge decided to file a criminal complaint against the defendant officers for "battery" and "infringement of freedom of expression."
At the third hearing held today (March 12, 2024) in the Istanbul 35th Criminal Court of First Instance, the defense lawyers of the accused police officers claimed that, despite video evidence in the file, Kural's press card fell to the ground, hence no crime was committed. The lawyer of police officer Y.Ş., who was recorded shouting "Nothing will ever be the same again, we will teach you this," argued that his client, being a police officer, would not commit a crime.
The prosecutor reiterated his opinion calling for the punishment of the defendants. The judge then fined the three police officers 9,000 Turkish Lira each, but deferred the announcement of the verdict. Alongside this decision, a criminal complaint was filed against the accused police officers under Turkish Penal Code articles 86 "battery" and 115 "infringement of freedom of expression."
Background of the incident
In November 2015, during a protest at Istanbul University marking the establishment date of the Higher Education Council (YÖK), police officer Yusuf Şanlı, while intervening in the protest, grabbed and removed the press card from Kural, who was covering the event for bianet. He then attempted to detain her with handcuffs behind her back. The moments when Şanlı shouted "Nothing will ever be the same again, we will teach you this," were recorded by the camera hanging around Kural's neck. Following objections from other journalists at the scene, the police released Kural while still handcuffed.
After the initial criminal complaint filed by Kural resulted in a non-prosecution decision, she appealed to the Constitutional Court. On February 18, 2021, the Court ruled that there was a violation of "human dignity," as well as "freedom of expression and press freedom." Following this decision, a lawsuit was filed against the three officers for "violation of the right to work and conduct business" with a prison sentence demand of six months to two years.
Six years after the incident, at a hearing in the Istanbul 35th Criminal Court of First Instance, the prosecution stated that, according to video evidence submitted to the file, Kural was detained despite holding a press card, and that the accused police officers were found guilty of "violation of the right to work and conduct business (Turkish Penal Code 117)." The prosecutor sought punishment for the police officers, stating that they committed this crime "by abusing the influence provided by their public office" and requested an increased penalty according to Turkish Penal Code (TCK) 119/1-e.
The court fined each accused officer 6,000 Turkish Lira. The announcement of the verdict for one officer was deferred. Since the other two officers had previously committed crimes, the announcement of their verdicts was not deferred. The officers were ordered to pay the 6,000 Turkish Lira fine in 10 installments.
However, the Regional Court of Appeals overturned the decision, stating that due to the defendants' status as public officials, the sentence should not be at the lower limit. Furthermore, it was decided to overturn the decision for the officer whose sentence had been deferred, as he had another deferred sentence on his criminal record for a different offense.
At the retrial that began on October 10, 2023, the prosecutor expressed his opinion that, in addition to "violation of the right to work and conduct business," the defendants should be punished for "hindering work activities by abusing the influence provided by their public office."
