A prosecutor has requested prison sentences for journalist Sinan Aygül and his brother Ahmet Aygül on charges of making threats and insults against two men who physically assaulted Sinan Aygül in 2023. The trial, held in the eastern Turkish district of Tatvan, stems from allegations that the Aygül brothers threatened and insulted two bodyguards of the town’s former mayor.
Barış Altıntaş
At the third hearing of the trial on March 27, held at the Tatvan 3rd Criminal Court of First Instance, the prosecutor presented his final opinion, requesting that Sinan Aygül be convicted of making threats and that Ahmet Aygül be convicted of both making threats and insulting one of the complainants. Both defendants are being tried without pretrial detention.
The charges relate to an incident in June 2023, when Sinan Aygül, head of the Bitlis Journalists Association, was attacked in public by two bodyguards of then-Tatvan Mayor Mehmet Emin Geylani, a member of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). The assailants—police officer Engin Kaplan and municipal employee Yücel Baysali—are also Geylani’s relatives. Following the assault, the two were suspended and briefly jailed before being released at their first court appearance.
In the March 27 hearing, Sinan and Ahmet Aygül were present along with their lawyers. The complainants, Kaplan and Baysali, did not attend. According to the prosecutor's opinion, the Aygül brothers acted together in threatening the two men, and Ahmet Aygül allegedly sent insulting messages to Yücel Baysali via social media.
Defense lawyers requested additional time to respond to the prosecutor’s opinion, and the court postponed the next hearing to April 17, 2025.
Background: Legal battles following the attack on Sinan Aygül
On June 17, 2023, journalist Sinan Aygül was physically assaulted on a public street in Tatvan, a district in Turkey’s eastern Bitlis province, by Kaplan and Baysali. The incident drew condemnation from press freedom advocates. After the attack, the assailants were detained and suspended from duty but released at the first hearing.
In a separate legal twist, Kaplan and Baysali filed a complaint against Aygül, accusing him of insulting them. As a result, Aygül was sentenced to 2 months and 5 days in prison. A restraining order was also issued against him under Turkey’s Law on the Protection of the Family and Prevention of Violence Against Women.
On January 25, 2024, a Tatvan court sentenced Kaplan and Baysali to 1 year, 5 months, and 15 days in prison for “deliberate injury with a weapon.” However, the court deferred the announcement of the verdict, meaning the sentences will not be enforced unless they reoffend.
The current case stems from a May 2024 complaint by Kaplan and Baysali, who alleged that Aygül and his brother threatened and insulted them when Aygül visited the municipality building to request access to security footage related to the initial attack. This complaint led to the trial now underway.
