This week's schedule is packed with various hearings of journalism and freedom of expression trials. Notably, on January 10, marked as Working Journalist's Day, journalists will find themselves in courtrooms defending their profession against multiple charges.
MLSA Trial Monitoring Unit will keep everyone updated on these trials, sharing information in both Turkish and English through our twitter.com/@MLSADavaTakip account, be sure to follow us on X/Twitter.
Trial Schedule for this Week
January 8, Monday:
- 10:00: Hearing of the "dissolution" lawsuit against the Tarlabaşı Community Center, on the grounds of "illegality and immorality," at the Istanbul 18th Civil Court of First Instance.
- 11:00: Civil lawsuit for 250.000 TL for nonpecuniary damages against journalist Seyhan Avşar over a report involving Halil Falyalı and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Yasin Ekrem Serim, at the Ankara 16th Civil Court of First Instance.
- 15:30: Trial of journalists Barış Pehlivan and Mustafa Büyüksipahi, charged with "insulting a public official," at the Ankara 19th Criminal Court of First Instance.
January 9, Tuesday:
- 09:20: Journalists Sibel Yükler, Deniz Nazlım, and Yıldız Tar, who protested in Ankara against the arrest of journalists in Diyarbakır, will face trial for "causing themselves to be beaten by the police" at the Ankara 71st Criminal Court of First Instance. They are being represented by MLSA Legal Unit.
- 09:40: Trial of journalists Eylem Sonbahar, Sema Karakurt, and Metin Cihan, among 17 individuals, for "resisting a public officer to prevent their duty" and "insult" during the G20 summit protests in Antalya, at the Antalya 25th Criminal Court of First Instance.
- 10:30: Trial of Journalist Yağmur Kaya, represented by MLSA, for an interview with Eren Keskin, accused of "targeting counter-terrorism personnel," at the Aydın 2nd High Criminal Court.
- 14:30: Trial of journalists Mustafa Büyüksipahi and Mustafa Birol Güger for "insulting a public official," following a complaint by Minister Mustafa Varank, at the Istanbul 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance.
January 10, Wednesday:
- 09:35: Civil lawsuit against Evrensel newspaper and columnist Ceren Sözeri by Serhat Albayrak for 200,000 Turkish Lira in nonpecuniary damages, at the Istanbul 2nd Civil Court of Commerce.
- 09:30: Trial of Karar newspaper writer Akif Beki for "insult," following a complaint by "Cübbeli Ahmet Hoca," at the Anadolu 26th Criminal Court of First Instance.
- 10:10: Retrial of 15 officials in the Hrant Dink murder trial, at the Istanbul 14th High Criminal Court.
- 11:30: First hearing against journalists detained in Istanbul Kadıköy for protesting the arrest of journalists in Diyarbakır and Ankara, at the Istanbul Anadolu 22nd Criminal Court of First Instance.
- 11:45: Trial of journalist-writer Ercan Aktaş, represented by MLSA, for "dissuading the public from military service" and "propaganda," at the Bakırköy 2nd High Criminal Court.
January 11, Thursday:
- 09:30: Case seeking compensation for moral damages against head of the Turkish Doctors’ Union (TBB) Şebnem Korur Fincancı over statements about Turkish military’s alleged use of chemical weapons, at the Ankara 2nd Civil Court of First Instance.
- 09:55: Retrial of journalists Ahmet Memiş, Ali Akkuş, Cemal Azmi Kalyoncu, Gökçe Fırat Çulhaoğlu, Ünal Tanık, Yakup Çetin and Yetkin Yıldız in the so-called "FETÖ media structure case”, at the Istanbul 25th High Criminal Court.
- 10:00: Trial of Yeni Yaşam columnist Ahmet Güneş for "terrorist propaganda," at the Istanbul 25th High Criminal Court.
- 10:50: The trial against Hüseyin Aykol, former editor-in-chief of the now-closed Özgür Gündem newspaper, and Reyhan Çapan, its former managing news editor, for "praising crime and criminals," "incitement to commit a crime," and "propaganda for an organization," will be heard at the Istanbul 13th High Criminal Court.
- 14:00: Trial of 23 individuals, including ETHA News agency journalist İsminaz Temel for "illegal organization membership" and "propaganda," at the Istanbul 27th High Criminal Court."
