Eylem Sonbahar
Turkish writer and PEN International member Gökhan Yavuzel has been acquitted in a trial where he was accused of "publicly inciting hatred and hostility" over a newspaper column titled The Relationship Between Art and Power.
Court rules in favor of acquittal
The fifth hearing of Yavuzel’s case was held at Şanlıurfa 4th Criminal Court of First Instance. The charges stemmed from his article, published on Jan. 31, 2021, on the news website Gazete Davul, which he later shared on social media.
Yavuzel did not attend the hearing, but his lawyer, Muhammed Ünsal, participated remotely via Turkey’s judicial video conferencing system (SEGBİS) from Istanbul 36th Criminal Court of First Instance.
After the prosecutor reiterated the demand for a conviction, Ünsal defended his client, arguing:
"My client is a journalist and writer specializing in arts and culture. As a journalist, he benefits from broader protections under freedom of expression. The article in question is a form of free speech and should be evaluated within that framework. We request an acquittal."
The court ruled in favor of Yavuzel’s acquittal, stating that the charges were not substantiated.
Background
The case was initiated following a complaint to the Osmaniye Provincial Police Department, which alleged that Yavuzel's article was "propagating the overthrow of the state through armed force." Based on this complaint, the Şanlıurfa Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office launched an investigation.
A warrant for Yavuzel’s arrest was issued by Şanlıurfa 1st Criminal Judgeship of Peace after he shared his article on social media. The indictment cited the following passage from his column as evidence for the charges:
"When power becomes a tool for killing, excluding differences, and leading a process of annihilation, a dictator emerges, and that state is doomed. Arbitrary rule is not sustainable, but despotism fails to recognize that its oppression has already given birth to a small but conscious and revolutionary opposition, waiting for the right conditions to strike back. This resistance, if necessary, will take a violent and armed form, dismantling the security forces and institutions that protect the regime, bringing an end to what seemed like an unending rule."
Yavuzel had consistently denied the accusations, maintaining that his article was a critique of authoritarianism and fell under the scope of free expression.
