Trial where journalist Cengiz Çandar is tried over a social media post is adjourned
İstanbul – The third hearing of the trial where journalist Cengiz Çandar, whom MLSA represents in court, and activist Kemal Işıktaş face “praising an offence and the offender” charges was held at İstanbul 30th Criminal Court of First Instance today. The court adjourned the trial until February 8, 2022, 12.35 pm.
While journalist Cengiz Çandar, who lives abroad, did not attend the hearing of the trial where he and Kemal Işıktaş face “praising an offence and the offender” charges, lawyer Erselan Aktan and activist Kemal Işıktaş were present in the courtroom. Lawyer Aktan took the floor first and requested the Court to wait for his client’s letters rogatory. The court accepted the request and adjourned the trial.
The evidence presented in the indictment for the accusations against Çandar and Işıktaş are Twitter posts they had shared on their personal accounts on May 30, 2017. The prosecution claims that Ayşe Deniz Karacagil, who is mentioned in the posts that are presented as evidence for the accusations, died in Rakka fighting for a terrorist organization, and that mentioning and praising her on social media would pose a clear and imminent danger to public order. The arrest warrant for Çandar was lifted at the previous hearing held on April 15, 2021.