The court will hear Eren Keskin as witness in the trial of journalist Yağmur Kaya

EYLEM SONBAHAR*

In the trial of journalist Yağmur Kaya in which the journalist faces “identifying officials on anti-terror duties as targets” charge upon complaint by retired military commander Musa Çitil, the court decided to hear the Human Rights Assocation’s (İHD) Co-Chair Eren Keskin as a witness. The second hearing of the trial in which journalist Yağmur Kaya whom MLSA represents in court faces “identifying officials on anti-terror duties as targets” charge upon complaint by Musa Çitil was held in the Aydın 2nd High Criminal Court. Kaya attended the hearing together with her lawyers from İstanbul via the video-conference system (SEGBİS). At the hearing, which started after the indictment was read, journalist Kaya took the floor first and argued that the news article in question should be considered within the scope of freedom of the press. Kaya stated that the expressions cited in the indictment belong to Eren Keskin whom she interviewed and whose statements she included in her news article without making any changes. Kaya further stated that she chose to interview Keskin because she is an expert on the matter and requested that she be acquitted. Taking the floor after Kaya, lawyer Emine Özhasar requested additional time so that they can prepare their detailed defense. The prosecutor requested Eren Keskin to be heard as witness. Announcing its decision without taking a break, the court decided to hear Eren Keskin as witness. The court also decided to investigate over the National Judiciary Informatics System (UYAP) to determine if any criminal investigation or case has been brought against Keskin in connection with the interview cited in the indictment. The next hearing of the trial will be held on 9 March 2023.

Background

The indictment presents an interview Kaya did with the Human Rights Association Co-Chair Eren Keskin which was published on Artı Gerçek on 20 August 2020. The prosecutors argues that even though the name of the victim in the case against Musa Çitil and 405 soldiers in his command was included in the interview with her initials, same “sensibility” was not shown for the name of Musa Çitil who was acquitted in said case and therefore there was an intent to identify Çitil as a target. Despite the fact that the prosecutor does not specify to whom Çitil was identified as a target, he requests Kaya to be sentenced. At the first hearing of the trial held on 6 October 2020, the court decided to accept the intervention request of Çitil on the grounds that he might have been injured by the alleged offense. The prosecutor who prepared the indictment against Kaya had also indicted journalist İnci Aydın. The Aydın 2nd High Criminal Court had acquitted Aydın at the fourth hearing of the case. *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).