Turkey: CFWIJ Welcomes The Acquittal Of Journalists Implicated In Özgur Gündem Trial
Location: Turkey, Istanbul
Date: December 21, 2021Available in: 🇹🇷 Türkçe
Photo Credit: AFP/OZAN KOSE
18 journalists were acquitted from all charges they have been facing since 2016. The 11th hearing of the trial, in which five women journalists were tried on charges of resisting public duty was held today at İstanbul’s court. The court ruled to acquit all the defendants, stating the allegations were not proven and committed a crime. The Coalition For Women In Journalism welcomes the court decision and demands the judiciary to set a precedent for other cases in which journalists face groundless charges.
The 11th hearing of the case against 22 journalists, five of whom were women, was held today at the Istanbul 5th Criminal Court of First Instance. Journalists Amine Demirkıran, Elif Aydoğmuş, Günay Aksoy, Gülfem Karataş, Reyhan Hacıoğlu were tried for alleged "resistance to the police officer" during the police raid on Özgür Gündem Newspaper. Özgür Gündem was closed with the Statutory Decree (KHK) in 2016. Police raided the newspaper’s offices in İstanbul, battered and detained journalists. During the raid, some of the journalists were also injured.
Today, İstanbul’s court ruled that there was no evidence to prove the accusations in the case file and that it was not clear that the journalists had committed a crime. 18 journalists were acquitted after five years of battling justice. Four were separated from the case for awaiting defenses.
Lawyers Özcan Kılıç, Cemal Polat, Sercan Korkmaz and Oya Öznur represented the journalists at court. Cemal Polat, the lawyer of journalist Gülfem Karakaş, said that his client was a reporter of İMC TV at that time and she was following the events. Gülfem was beaten and insulted while she was taken into custody and the lawyer underlined that the indictment and the prosecutor's opinion were not stated as to who did the alleged insult against her.
Following Cemal’s defense, Sercan Korkmaz drew attention to the video recordings that claimed the journalists resisted the police officers during the raid. The lawyer emphasized that although the video recordings of the alleged crime were mentioned, the aforementioned force recordings were not included in the case file. He said his clients were the victims, not suspects.
Lawyer Özcan Kılıç, on the other hand, stated that he witnessed the police brutality in the events and reminded the court. Özcan Kılıç presented the decision of the Constitutional Court (AYM) to the court, which said that Özgür Gündem's closure was a "violation of rights", added that it was explained in detail in the Constitutional Court's decision how the search for closure would not be.
After the defenses, the court decided that there was insufficient evidence about the journalists, and the shreds of evidence are not enough against journalists to commit a crime. The court also decided to return the confiscated digital materials of journalists after five years.
The Coalition For Women in Journalism welcomes the acquittal of journalists. We demand similar decisions from the Turkish authorities against other journalists who have been tried on baseless charges.
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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