DENİZ TEKİN
Turkey’s Supreme Court has upheld a 1-year, 10-month, and 15-day prison sentence for journalist Beritan Canözer, handed down over her social media posts and likes. The ruling will send Canözer to prison and reactivate a previously suspended case, resulting in her retrial. Canözer’s lawyer has filed an appeal with Turkey's Constitutional Court, citing violations of her freedom of expression.
Conviction for social media activity
The case against Canözer stems from her posts and likes on social media platforms between 2013 and 2016, which led to charges of “making propaganda for a terrorist organization through press and publication.” In 2019, the Diyarbakır 11th High Criminal Court sentenced her to prison for four comments and one "like" on social media, refusing to suspend the sentence due to her criminal record and a lack of “confidence” that she would not reoffend.
Her lawyer, Resul Temur, appealed the ruling, but the Diyarbakır Regional Court of Justice rejected the appeal in 2021. The case was then taken to the Supreme Court, which upheld the conviction in 2024, declaring that the legal process and evidence collection were conducted in accordance with the law.
Constitutional appeal and retrial of a suspended case
Following the Supreme Court’s decision, Canözer’s legal team appealed to the Constitutional Court, arguing that her rights to free expression, as guaranteed under the Turkish Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights, were violated.
Additionally, the Diyarbakır 11th High Criminal Court has referred Canözer’s case to the Diyarbakır 4th High Criminal Court, which had previously suspended a 1-year, 3-month sentence against her for “making propaganda for a terrorist organization.” This court will now reopen the case, citing her new conviction as grounds for a retrial.
A decade of persecution for journalism
Beritan Canözer, a journalist since 2014, has been subjected to ongoing harassment for her reporting, including six police raids on her home, five detentions, two arrests, and eight court cases. She gained widespread attention in 2016 when she was arrested during a protest for appearing "excited" and detained for 123 days.
Canözer has faced charges ranging from “membership in an armed terrorist organization” to “insulting a public official.” While she was acquitted in three cases, others led to cumulative sentences of 7 years and 6 months for propaganda-related charges. Suspended sentences cover 2 years and 6 months of this total, but others, including her current sentence and a 3-year, 1-month, and 15-day sentence, remain active.
She was also fined 7,080 lira in a defamation case over remarks about then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Several other investigations into her activities were dismissed.
Ongoing legal battles
Canözer’s legal troubles are far from over, as her appeals and reactivated cases proceed in higher courts. Meanwhile, her lawyer continues to challenge what they claim is an infringement of her basic rights as a journalist.
