The eighth hearing of the trial in which journalist Cengiz Çandar whom MLSA represents in court and activist Kemal Işıktaş face “praising an offense and an offender” charge was held in the İstanbul 30th Criminal Court of First Instance. The court decided to separate the case file of journalist Cengiz Çandar.The trial of journalist Cengiz Çandar and activist Kemal Işıktaş resumed today. Submitting excuses to the court, Işıktaş and his lawyer did not attend today’s hearing. Lawyer Erselan Aktan represented Çandar who lives abroad, at today’s hearing.Taking the floor, lawyer Aktan stated that Çandar has yet to provide his arguments and requested for the court to wait for the return of the rogatory letters issued.Recording his interim decision in the minutes, the judge decided to separate the case file of Çandar.
The prosecutor requested Işıktaş to be sentenced
Taking the floor, the prosecutor stated that he is ready to present his final opinion as to the accusations regarding Işıktaş. Citing the social media post which Işıktaş had shared on his personal account on 30 May 2017 and in which he commemorated Ayşe Deniz Karacagil who died fighting ISIS, the prosecutor argued that Işıktaş praised Karacagil who “died during the organization’s actions” and requested that Işıktaş be sentenced for “praising an offense and an offender.” The prosecutor also requested that the sentence which will be imposed upon Işıktaş be increased as he committed the offense “through the press or broadcasting.”Announcing his decision without taking a break, the judge decided to give additional time for Işıktaş and his lawyer to prepare their arguments against the final opinion. The trial of Işıktaş is adjourned until 13 December 2022.The court also decided to resume Çandar’s trial separately and to notify Çandar’s lawyers once his case is assigned a new file number and a hearing date.*This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. The work may be used and redistributed for non-commercial purposes with proper attribution to the Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA).
Medya ve Hukuk Çalışmaları Derneği (MLSA) haber alma hakkı, ifade özgürlüğü ve basın özgürlüğü alanlarında faaliyet yürüten bir sivil toplum kuruluşudur. Derneğimiz başta gazeteciler olmak üzere mesleki faaliyetleri sebebiyle yargılanan kişilere hukuki destek vermektedir.
