Turkey: Travel Ban on Derya Okatan, Five Other Journalists Yet In Place As Court Adjourns 13th Hearing Of RedHack Trial
Location: Turkey, İstanbul
Date: December 9, 2021Available in: 🇹🇷 Türkçe
Legal ordeal for Derya Okata and five other journalists who stand trial for reporting on leaked emails of former energy minister in 2016 continues as the İstanbul 29th High Criminal Court adjourned the 13th hearing on Thursday. The court rejected the defendants’ request to lift the judicial control measures imposed on them and adjourned the hearing till December 31, 2021. Derya and other journalists face up to 11 years in prison on bogus terror-related charges, with their reportage cited as evidence against them.
The Coalition For Women In Journalism condemns the continued prosecution of journalists. We call on the Turkish state and judiciary to quit weaponizing the country’s anti-terror laws to gag critical journalists.
Journalists Derya Okatan, Mahir Kanaat, Tunca Öğreten, Ömer Çelik, Metin Yoksu and Eray Sargın remain under a travel ban imposed on them in the case commonly known as the RedHack trial. They were charged with “making terrorist propaganda”, “acting on behalf of a terrorist organization without being a member”, “membership in a terrorist organization” and “hindrance or destruction of an information system, deletion or alteration of data”.
At the 13th hearing on Thursday, December 8, 2021, the prosecutor submitted his arguments and sought penalization of the journalists on charges of unlawfully obtaining or giving data and spreading terrorist propaganda.
The defence lawyers prayed the court to lift the judicial control measures, including the travel ban, imposed on journalists to be repeated. Derya’s lawyer sought time from the court to counter the prosecution’s arguments.
The case against the journalists is based on their coverage of leaked emails of former energy minister Berat Albayrak. The journalists reported on Albayrak’s email correspondence from 2000 to 2016, which was leaked by the RedHack hackers group and published by WikiLeaks in December 2016. After the news reports were published, Öğreten and Kanaat were detained. An investigation was then launched into the news reports and the five journalists were implicated. Derya faces up to 11 years in prison if she is convicted on the charges framed against her.
The court rejected the defense lawyers’ request to lift the judicial control measures imposed on the journalists and adjourned further hearing of the trial till December 31, 2021.
The Coalition For Women In Journalism extends solidarity to Derya Okatan and the other journalists, who continue to face a long drawn out trial, where the process itself has become punishment, for simply doing their jobs. We denounce all fabricated charges against them and demand their immediate acquittal. Protracted trials and persistent prosecution of journalists have become more and more common in Turkey as the state continues its crackdown on dissenting voices. In 2021 alone, we have followed over 90 cases of legal harassment of women journalists in the country. We call on the Turkish state and judiciary to recognize that journalism is not a crime and end legal harassment of journalists. Curbs on the freedom of the press and the right to information and free speech have no place in any credible democracy. Journalists must feel safe and free to report on matters of public interest without fear of government retaliation.
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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