Turkey: CFWIJ Condemns Adjournment Of Trials Are Used To Be A Tactic To Derail Justice
Location: Turkey, Istanbul
Date: April 22, 2021Available in: 🇹🇷 Türkçe
The lawsuit filed against journalists who were beaten and detained in the police raid on Özgür Gündem newspaper was postponed one more time. The next hearing of the trial, in which five female journalists are being tried, will be held on July 1. The Coalition For Women In Journalism (CFWIJ) finds these constant adjournments of trials are being used as a tactic to derail justice. We demand our colleagues’ acquittal immediately.
The ninth hearing of the trial against 22 journalists who were beaten and detained during the police raid against Özgür Gündem Newspaper in 2016, was once again adjourned today to July 1.
The newspaper was closed by the government after the coup attempt in 2016. In the case, 22 journalists, five of them women, are being tried on charges of "insulting a public official" and "preventing a public official from performing its duty". The names of the five female journalists on trial are Amine Demirkıran, Elif Aydoğmuş, Günay Aksoy, Gülfem Karataş and Reyhan Hacıoğlu.
The trial against journalists was held at the Istanbul 5th Criminal Court of First Instance today. Journalists’ lawyer Özcan Kılıç was present in the court. Kılıç demanded the acquittal of the journalists, stating that there was no action to be taken in the case-file and requested a verdict from the court. The court ordered to separate the files of defendants whose arrest warrants could not be executed yet and adjourned the case until July 1, 2021. Also, the court requested the prosecutor's judicial opinion for the next hearing.
In the previous hearing on February 16, the court decided to wait for the execution of the arrest warrants issued for the four defendants and no decision was ruled.
The Coalition For Women In Journalism condemns the legal persecution against journalists in Turkey. Postponing the trials are new tactics of aiming to intimidate female journalists in the country. We demand the Turkish authorities to end their policies of intimidation by the judiciary against 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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