Turkey: Hearing of Sadiye Eser's Case Adjourned Yet Again As Court Awaits Absent Witness
Location: Turkey, İstanbul
Date: January 11, 2022Available in: 🇹🇷 Türkçe
The seventh hearing of the trial against journalist Sadiye Eser was held in Istanbul today. The court adjourned the case again, demanding the witness absent at previous hearings summoned again. The travel ban continues on Sadiye. The next hearing will be held on May 12, 2022. The Coalition For Women In Journalism (CFWIJ) condemns the prolonged trials which curb press freedom. These tactics are solely aimed to intimidate and silence journalists. We demand the Turkish to acquit Sadiye and her colleague immediately.
The seventh hearing of the trial against journalist Sadiye Eser and Mezopotamya Agency (MA) reporter Sadık Topaloğlu was held today at the Istanbul 22nd High Criminal Court. The journalists were sued on the charge of "being a member of a terrorist organization". The witness Özgür Baran, who was planning to be brought to the court in the previous hearing, did not attend the trial again. The court ruled to bring the witness next time and did not lift the imposed travel ban on Sadiye. Journalists face a prison sentence of up to 15 years if they are convicted.
At today’s court, the lawyers of the journalists, Özcan Kılıç and Siyabend Dunlayıcı represented the journalists at court. Sadiye’s lawyer said that the case was filed due to a witness, Özgür Baran, against his clients and despite the seventh hearing of the case, the witness has not been attended to the case yet. Stating the court’s decision of bringing the witness by force did not work for him avoiding giving testimony of his claims. Özcan Kılıç said, “We request an end to call a witness for the hearings as this case file completed.” Lawyer Siyabend Dunlayıcı requested the same as Özcan Kılıç.
The court adjourned the hearing to May 12, deciding to wait for the previously written order to bring the witness by force and to continue the travel imposed on Sadiye and Sadık.
Sadiye was detained after leaving the MA’s office on November 29, 2019, and was arrested on December 2, 2019, over a charge of being a member of an armed terrorist organization". She was released conditionally after four months at the first hearing which was held on March 26, 2020.
In the indictment of the case, Sadiye’s travels abroad were cited as evidence, her resistance to inform the police about the password of her mobile phone which was seized by the police during her detention was accepted as "organizational behavior". Also, Kurdish songs in the journalist's MP3 player were counted among the evidence in the indictment.
The Coalition For Women In Journalism closely monitors the lawsuits filed against women journalists in Turkey. Journalists are unfairly prosecuted on bogus terrorism charges based on their social media posts or the news they write. Cases are constantly postponed by using various excuses against journalists. These tactics are used by the state aiming to intimidate journalists. As the coalition, we reiterate that journalism is not a crime, and demand an immediate acquittal of Sadiye Eser from the Turkish authorities.
The Coalition For Women In Journalism is a global organization of support for women journalists. The CFWIJ pioneered mentorship for mid-career women journalists across several countries around the world and is the first organization to focus on the status of free press for women journalists. We thoroughly document cases of any form of abuse against women in any part of the globe. Our system of individuals and organizations brings together the experience and mentorship necessary to help female career journalists navigate the industry. Our goal is to help develop a strong mechanism where women journalists can work safely and thrive.
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