Eylem Sonbahar
Journalist Evrim Kepenek, who is on trial for reporting on allegations of sexual abuse against a child, faces calls for punishment after the prosecutor argued that her actions cannot be justified as part of the public's right to access information.
The third hearing in the trial of Kepenek, an editor for the women and LGBTQ+ section of the independent Turkish news platform Bianet, was held at Büyükçekmece 9th Criminal Court of First Instance. Kepenek is accused of "violating the confidentiality of the investigation" over her news story about the alleged sexual abuse and death of a 2-year-old child in Istanbul's Beylikdüzü district.
Although Kepenek did not attend the hearing, her lawyer, Deniz Yazgan Şenay, was present. Three members of the deceased child’s family also attended. During the session, the prosecutor presented their final opinion, asserting that Kepenek’s actions did not fall under the scope of the public’s right to access information and citing Article 285/1 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK), which defines the act as a crime.
The prosecutor rejected Kepenek’s defense, in which she argued that there was no confidentiality order in place at the time of her reporting. The prosecutor stated that the confidentiality order in this case applied specifically to the involved parties but that general confidentiality is a fundamental principle of investigations to protect public order. Based on this reasoning, the prosecutor demanded that Kepenek be convicted of the charges against her.
Family members of the deceased child expressed agreement with the prosecutor’s opinion. In response, Kepenek’s lawyer countered, saying, “We do not agree with the prosecutor’s opinion. My client published the report without knowledge of the initiation of the investigation. We request additional time to submit a written statement.”
The court granted the defense’s request for additional time and postponed the hearing to May 14 at 11:20 a.m.
