Turkey: An Exemplary Verdict - CFWIJ Welcomes Olcay Büyüktaş Akça's Acquittal
Location: Turkey, Istanbul
Date: June 15, 2021Available in: 🇹🇷 Türkçe
Put on trial for "disclosing the identity of a counterterrorism informant" over a news report, Cumhuriyet Newspaper's Olcay Büyüktaş Akça was acquitted in today’s hearing. Alican Uludağ, the reporter who wrote the article, and Olcay Büyüktaş Akça, the newspaper's managing editor responsible for legal affairs, was charged with "disclosing the identity of an informant" according to Article 6/3 of the Anti-Terror Law and are facing up to three years in prison.
While facing up to three years in prison on the offence charged, Olcay Büyüktaş Akça and Alican Uludağ don’t attend the hearing, their lawyer Buket Yazıcı was present in the courtroom. Buket Yazıcı said, “The documents sent from the Ankara Train Station Massacre Case prove that my client Alican Uludağ's news was reported based on this document."
The prosecutor presented the final opinion and said that journalist Alican Uludağ reached to not confidential documents while preparing the news report. He demanded the acquittal of journalists Olcay and Alican.
The previous hearing was held on January 12, 2021. The court rejected the journalist’s requests and waited for a reply to the letter written to Ankara’s 4th High Criminal Court in the first hearing, requesting the indictment for the journalists’ story on the massacre.
On January 13, 2021, in the first hearing, journalist Alican Uludağ denied the charges against him and requested his acquittal from the court. The court rejected the journalist’s requests.
On December 16, 2020, another lawsuit filed against Cumhuriyet reporter Hazal Ocak, editor Olcay Büyüktaş, editor-in-chief İpek Özbey and photojournalist Vedat Arık. The journalists faced charges for a piece the newspaper published on April 14, 2020. The story was about the land beside the home of Presidency Communications Director, Fahrettin Altun, in İstanbul. The indictment was filed after Fahrettin Altun's criminal complaint stated, "it was obligatory to restrict freedom of expression to protect the public and the state".
The Coalition For Women In Journalism demands acquittal of other women journalists who are subjected to legal harassment just because of doing good journalism. Authorities should renounce using legislation as a tactic to silence journalists. Journalism is not a crime.
The Coalition For Women In Journalism closely monitors the incidents in Turkey with great concern. Since March 8, Women's Day, police violence against women journalists increasingly continues in the country. As the coalition, we urge the Turkish state to provide a free environment for journalists. Following the news is our most fundamental democratic right to report. We demand the immediate release of our detained colleagues. Journalism is not a crime. Journalism cannot be prevented.
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