A court has sentenced ETHA reporter Züleyha Müldür to 6 years and 3 months in prison on a charge of “membership in an armed terrorist organization,” issuing its verdict in the case against the journalist.
MLSA - The sixth hearing in the trial of Etkin News Agency (ETHA) reporter Züleyha Müldür and two other defendants on a charge of “membership in an armed terrorist organization” was held at Istanbul’s 14th High Criminal Court.
Müldür and her lawyer attended the hearing, along with another defendant standing trial in the same case.
At the start of the hearing, the presiding judge asked the prosecutor whether there had been any change to his final opinion on the merits. The prosecutor reiterated his request that the defendants be convicted and sentenced in line with the indictment.
Asked to respond to the prosecutor’s final opinion on the merits, Züleyha Müldür said in her defense statement that she rejected the accusations and sought her acquittal.
“I do not accept the prosecutor’s opinion. The acts cited in the accusations are my constitutional rights. They are also rights that stem from being a journalist, a socialist and a feminist. I am being sought to be punished for these. I reject this and request my acquittal,” Müldür said.
Her lawyer, Lokman Emen, then presented his statement on the merits. Emen noted that the investigation that led to the case had begun with an intelligence note.
He said activities arising from Müldür’s exercise of her democratic rights had been treated as criminal acts and used to build the case against her, adding that the case file had been padded with such material.
Emen also said social media material in the case had been collected through a police practice known as “virtual patrol,” although the Constitutional Court had found the police power underpinning the practice unlawful and annulled it. He said evidence nevertheless continued to be collected through the same method.
Emen said lower courts had failed to recognize Constitutional Court rulings, arguing that this removed the legal basis for the evidence. He said that any conviction in the case would ultimately be found unlawful by the Constitutional Court, read out a Constitutional Court ruling concerning the issue and requested Müldür’s acquittal.
Asked for her final statement, Müldür again requested an acquittal.
The court sentenced Müldür to 6 years and 3 months in prison for “membership in an armed terrorist organization.”
Background
Müldür was detained in an operation targeting the Socialist Party of the Oppressed (ESP), the Federation of Socialist Youth Associations (SGDF) and the Socialist Women’s Assemblies, and was formally arrested and jailed on Jan. 24, 2025.
She was released at the first hearing on June 25, 2025, subject to a travel ban and a requirement to report to authorities weekly.
Müldür was detained again in an operation on Feb. 3, 2026, targeting the ESP, SGDF, Socialist Women’s Assemblies, the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions of Turkey-affiliated Limter-İş union and the Polen Ecology and Science Education Aesthetics Culture Art Research Foundation. She was later released under judicial supervision.
An indictment prepared by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office listed several activities involving Müldür among the allegations against her, including covering a hearing at Istanbul’s Çağlayan Courthouse on Sept. 24, 2024, attending an anniversary event for the founding of the newspaper Atılım and distributing the newspaper.
The indictment also cited her attendance at a commemoration for the 2015 Suruç bombing, in which 33 people were killed in an attack carried out by the Islamic State group, or ISIS. Suruç is a town in Turkey’s southeastern Şanlıurfa province, near the Syrian border.
Prosecutors also cited Müldür’s alleged participation in a protest against the appointment of government trustees to municipalities as part of the accusations against her.
At the third hearing in the case, a secret witness identified as G.T. said they did not remember Müldür. The witness also declined to answer a question about whether they had benefited from provisions allowing sentence reductions or other advantages under Turkey’s “effective remorse” law.
At the fifth hearing in July, the prosecutor submitted his final opinion on the merits and requested that Müldür be convicted and sentenced in line with the indictment.
