Next hearing of the trial where 13 journalists who participated in Özgür Gündem daily’s Editors-in-Chief on Watch campaign will be held on 3 April
İstanbul - Tenth hearing of the trial where 13 journalists and writers face “making terrorist propaganda” charges for participating in the “Editors-in-Chief on Watch” campaign in solidarity with the since shut-down Özgür Gündem daily was held at the Istanbul 14th High Criminal Court today.
The prosecutor repeated the final opinion as to the accusations
Lawyer Özcan Kılıç stated that there were neglected points and inaccurate details in the file, noting that the prosecutor’s opinion needs to be reviewed and ran through. Adding that there is no such document that lists defendant Fehim Işık as an editor-in-chief, Kılıç reminded the court that quoting Bertolt Brecht was used against Ömer Ağın in order to justify the “terrorist propaganda” accusation. Calling the court’s attention to Article 11 of the Turkish Press Law, Kılıç stated that criminal liability needs to be examined, and that Taşdemir, Temel and Kocakaya cannot be punished for a second time for their letters from prison.
Lawyers requested extra time to examine new documents and the court agreed.
Next hearing of the trial where Faruk Eren, Ertuğrul Mavioğlu, Celalettin Can, İhsan Çaralan, Celal Başlangıç, Fehim Işık, Dilşah Kocakaya, Öncü Akgül, Hüseyin Aykol, Ömer Ağın, Veysel Kemer, Mehmet Şirin Taşdemir and Yüksel Oğuz face “making terrorist propaganda” charges will be held on 3 April.
Özgür Gündem Editors-in-Chief on Watch trials
The “Editors-in-Chief on Watch” campaign was launched in 2016 in order to show solidarity and support dissident newspaper Özgür Gündem, which faced hundreds of investigations, dozens of trials, and judiciary fines that added up to hundreds of thousands of Turkish Liras. The campaign lasted between 3 May - 7 August, 2016. An investigation was launched for “making terrorist propaganda” charges on behalf of 49 out of 59 people who participated in this campaign. Özgür Gündem was then shut down on 30 October 2016 with the Decree Law no. 675.
11 out of 49 of these Editors-in-Chief on Watch trials ended with a non-prosecution verdict and 38 cases were opened. Twenty people were sentenced to either prison or judiciary fines. One person’s case was dismissed due to the statute of limitations. Four people were acquitted. The trial of 12 journalists is ongoing at the Istanbul 14th High Criminal Court and Can Dündar’s trial is ongoing at the Istanbul 22nd High Criminal Court.
