October 2021 — Legal Trials Against Journalists
Coming Up Journalist Trials
October 5
Ruken Demir
The seventh hearing of the trial against Mesopotamia Agency (MA) reporter Ruken Demir will be held at Izmir 19th High Criminal Court. The journalist, who was arrested on November 26, 2019, was released by the court's pending trial at the first hearing on March 6, 2020. Ruken was charged with being a member of an illegal organization due to her interviews. The journalist faces up to 15 years sentence in prison.
October 7
Canan Coşkun
The sixth hearing of the trial against journalist Canan Coşkun will be held at İstanbul 34th High Criminal Court. The journalist faces charges of "targeting the counter-terrorism officer to terrorist organizations" due to the article published in Cumhuriyet Newspaper. If convicted, Canan faces a prison sentence of up to three years.
October 11
Hatice Şahin
In the indictment, which was completed on October 23, 2020, Hatice Şahin was accused of having participated in organizational actions within the scope of the Democratic Society Congress (DTK) work. The journalist's travels between Istanbul and Diyarbakır between September and December 2017 were listed and being a member of the Free Women Congress Association was cited as evidence for the terror charges. The statement of anonymous witness against the journalist alleged that she attended illegal meetings in which some other journalists were also included. Another witness also claimed the journalist was the spokesperson of the media outlets related to the Union of Communities of Kurdistan (KCK). Hatice Şahin faces up to 15 years sentence in prison with the charges of being a member of an armed terrorist organization.
October 12
Rojda Oğuz
The trial against journalist Rojda Oğuz on charges of being affiliated with an armed terrorist organization and spreading propaganda for a terrorist organization will continue in Van. The journalist was detained in a police raid in 2016 for participating in the protests of Van Yüzüncü Yıl University students at different times. She was arrested later and taken to the prison in Van. After four months, she was released. The journalist faces a prison sentence of up to seven years on terror related charges.
Roza Metina
Roza Metina, a Kurdish news editor in Jin News and Kurdish Pen member was charged with being affiliated with a terrorist group. She was detained and released within the scope of the Democratic Society Congress (DTK) investigation initiated by Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor's Office on November 20, 2020. Her trial was postponed for the second time. Next hearing will be held on October 12, 2021.
İsminaz Temel and Havva Cuştan
The 13th hearing of the trial in which ETHA editor İsminaz Temel and journalist Havva Cuştan were tried on the allegation of "being a member of an armed terrorist organization" and "spreading propaganda for the organization" will be held at the Istanbul 27th High Criminal Court. If the court convicted both journalists would be sentenced to 20 years in prison.
October 13
Derya Okatan
Ankara 4th High Criminal Court accepted the indictment from 2019, which was accusing journalist Derya Okatan on the charge of "spreading propaganda for an organization in a chain". If convicted, the journalist will be sentenced to eight years and nine months in prison. The first hearing of the case will be held on October 13.
Rojda Aydın, Halime Parlak and Nurcan Yalçın
Jin News correspondent Rojda Aydın, journalists Halime Parlak and Nurcan Yalçın’s trial over the charges of ‘being participants in a prohibited gathering, defying police orders to disband’ will be held in Mardin 1st Criminal Court of First Instance.
October 14
Hazal Ocak
The hearing of the case against Hazal Ocak for her news piece “Son-in-law knows his way” was held today. The case was filed upon the complaint of the then Treasury and Finance Minister Berat Albayrak. The next hearing was postponed to October 14, 2021.
Sonya Bıyık
The trial against the Jiyan News managing editor Sonya Bayık will be held in Batman. Sonya was detained for covering the protest held in Hasankeyf two years ago and released on charges of "violating the laws of marches". The next hearing was postponed to October 14, 2021.
October 18
Yasemin Çongar
The trial of former Taraf executive Yasemin Çongar including Ahmet Altan, Yıldıray Oğur and reporter Mehmet Baransu over the alleged publication of a secret military document called “Egemen operation plan” will continue on October 18, 2021. Yasemin faces up to 52 years sentence in prison over charges of "to destroy, misuse, fraudulently take or steal documents related to the security of the state," "to provide information that must remain confidential in terms of state security or domestic or foreign political benefits," and "for the security of the state or domestic or foreign political benefits of the state by disclosing information that should remain confidential due to its nature ". The trial against the journalists will be held in İstanbul 13nd High Criminal Court.
October 21
Şehriban Abi, Nazan Sala and Zeynep Durgut
The third hearing of Şehriban Abi and Nazan Sala will be held at Van 5th High Criminal Court. They remained behind bars for 175 days and released conditionally in their first appearance in court. Both journalists are facing terror charges over their journalistic activities. The prosecutor requested a sentence of up to 15 years in prison on the charge of being members of an armed terrorist organization. Journalist Nazan Sala also faces up to 13 years in jail for accusations of spreading terrorist propaganda through the press.
