Several trials targeting journalists and activists to be heard across Turkey this week:
A series of trials involving journalists, activists and figures working in the field of freedom of expression will be heard in different Turkish cities this week, with defendants facing charges ranging from violating the law on public assemblies to membership in an organization.
On Tuesday, June 9, at 9:15 a.m., the 19th hearing in the trial of journalist Sonya Bayık will be held at the Batman 9th Criminal Court of First Instance in Batman, southeastern Turkey. Bayık is being tried alongside 31 people who attended a press statement in Hasankeyf, a historic district in Batman province, on charges of violating the Law on Meetings and Demonstrations. The file will be reviewed again after the court issued an interim decision to await the execution of arrest warrants.
At 9:20 a.m. the same day, the second hearing in the trial of trans activist İris Mozalar will be held at the Istanbul 7th Criminal Court of First Instance. Mozalar was detained during the March 8 Feminist Night March and is accused of “participating in an assembly and march in violation of Law No. 2911 and refusing to disperse despite a warning.”
At 10:10 a.m., the fifth hearing in the trial of journalist Vedat Örüç, who is defended by MLSA, will be held at the Mersin 6th High Criminal Court in southern Turkey. Örüç was detained on Jan. 17 along with six other journalists and arrested on Jan. 20 on allegations of membership in an organization. He is being tried on the same charge.
At 10:50 a.m., the seventh hearing in the trial of journalists Esra Solin Dal, Mehmet Aslan and Erdoğan Alayumat, who is defended by MLSA, will be held at the Istanbul 25th High Criminal Court. The journalists were arrested over their news reports and social media posts and later released. They are being tried on charges of “membership in an organization.”
On Thursday, June 11, at 9 a.m., the seventh hearing in the trial of journalist and writer Mehmet Şahin will be held at the Diyarbakır 5th High Criminal Court in southeastern Turkey. Şahin is charged with “being a member of an organization.”
At 11:30 a.m. the same day, the third hearing in the trial of Nefes newspaper reporter Nisanur Yıldırım will be held at the Bakırköy 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance in Istanbul. The case was filed following a complaint by Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy over Yıldırım’s news report headlined, “Minister’s company hits $150 million jackpot.” The journalist is being tried on a charge of “insulting a public official.”
On Friday, June 12, at 2:28 p.m., the seventh hearing in the trial of journalists Barış Pehlivan, Suat Toktaş, Kürşad Oğuz, Seda Selek and Serhan Asker will be held at the Istanbul 54th Criminal Court of First Instance. The case concerns their publication of a conversation with court-appointed expert Satılmış Büyükcanayakın, which Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu had disclosed. The defendants are being tried on charges of “recording non-public conversations between individuals” and “publishing recorded conversations through the press and media.”
