The new Turkey
Öncü Akgül
Journalist Özgür Gündem

19-Apr-2019 9:31

3 April 2019:

6 journalists given suspended sentences for ‘terrorist propaganda’

Six Turkish journalists were given 15-month suspended sentences on Wednesday on charges of disseminating terrorist propaganda while serving as the symbolic editor-in-chief for a day of the now-closed Kurdish Özgür Gündem daily in 2016, the Medyascope news platform reported.

Apart from journalists Faruk Eren, Ertuğrul Mavioğlu, Celal Başlangıç, İhsan Çaralan, Fehim Işık and Öncü Akgül, Celalettin Can was also given 15 months in prison but his sentence was not suspended.

A solidarity campaign for Özgür Gündem, the one-day symbolic editor-in-chief routine, was conducted between May and August 2016, in which 56 journalists, lawyers and human rights activists participated.

Forty-nine of them were subject to prosecution, and the newspaper was closed by government decree in October 2016 after a failed coup that gave the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan vast authorities under a subsequent state of emergency.

28 March 2019:

“Özgür Gündem solidarity case” adjourned until next week

A trial where 13 people, most of whom are journalists, stand accused of “terrorism propaganda” for joining in a solidarity campaign for the shuttered Özgür Gündem daily resumed on 28 March at the 14th High Criminal Court of Istanbul.

P24 monitored the hearing, where the prosecution reiterated their previous opinion of the case. The prosecutor is seeking prison terms for 12 of the 13 defendants -- Ertuğrul Mavioğlu, Celal Başlangıç, İhsan Çaralan, Fehim Işık, Öncü Akgül, Faruk Eren, Celalettin Can, Ömer Ağın, Veysel Kemer, Dilşah Karakaya, Yüksel Oğuz and Özgür Gündem’s former co-editor-in-chief Hüseyin Aykol -- on the charge of “conducting propaganda for a terrorist organization.” The prosecutor did not request a prison sentence for the 13th defendant, Mehmet Şirin Taşdemir, on grounds that he has already been convicted in another case.

Accepting the defense lawyers’ request for additional time for the final defense statements, the court adjourned the trial until 3 April.

16 July 2018:

Özgür Gündem solidarity trial adjourned until October
 
The eighth hearing of the trial of journalists who joined in a solidarity campaign for the shuttered Özgür Gündem daily was held on 16 July at the 14th High Criminal Court of Istanbul.
 
The prosecutor had submitted his final opinion of the case during the previous hearing, seeking prison terms for 12 of the 13 defendants -- Ertuğrul Mavioğlu, Celal Başlangıç, İhsan Çaralan, Fehim Işık, Öncü Akgül, Faruk Eren, Celalettin Can, Ömer Ağın, Veysel Kemer, Dilşah Karakaya, Yüksel Oğuz and Özgür Gündem’s former co-editor-in-chief Hüseyin Aykol -- on the charge of “conducting propaganda for a terrorist organization.” The prosecutor did not request a prison sentence for the 13th defendant, Mehmet Şirin Taşdemir, on grounds that he has already been convicted in another case.
 
P24 monitored the hearing on 16 July, where none of the defendants were in attendance. Defense lawyers addressing the court for the final defense statements requested that the investigation be expanded. The lawyers also raised objection of unconstitutionality.
 
Rejecting the lawyers’ requests and objections, the court adjourned the trial until 10 October for the rest of the final defense statements to be ready.

16 November 2016:
Three journalists tried on terrorism charges
Istanbul's 14th Court for Serious Crimes today began trying Huseyin Aykol, the former editor of the shuttered, pro-Kurdish daily Özgür Gündem, and Oncu Akgul, a journalist for the socialist newspaper Alınteri, on charges of spreading propaganda for a terrorist organization, the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), the leftist daily Evrensel reported. The court today adjourned their trial until February 21, the newspaper reported.

The charges against Akgul stem from the Özgür Gündem's coverage on the day she symbolically acted as co-editor of the newspaper to protest authorities' relentless judicial harassment of the newspaper's staff before police raided and shuttered its office on August 16.

Some 50 people face prosecution for participating in a protest that saw dozens of journalists, academics, and activists show solidarity with the newspaper by taking turns acting as co-editor of the newspaper for a day. Courts have indicted 36 participants, who now face trial, according to Evrensel.

İnan Kızılkaya, the newspaper's former responsible news editor, is a codefendant in each of those 36 cases.

8 September 2016:

'Marathon of trials' scheduled for those who showed support for beleaguered newspaper 
At least 19 journalists, activists, academics, and an actor who symbolically acted as co-editor of the shuttered pro-Kurdish newspaper Özgür Gündem for a day to protest authorities' persistent judicial harassment of its staff will stand trial between September 20 and October 8, the news website Bianet reportedyesterday. The 19 are among more than 100 people who face criminal investigations for their participation in the show of solidarity with the newspaper before a court ordered its closure and police raided its office in Istanbul, detaining more than 20 people. The Bianet article was written by Erol Önderoğlu, who is also the Turkey representative of the press freedom group Reporters Without Borders and who will also stand trial in connection with the newspaper's coverage on the day he served as co-editor of the newspaper.

İnan Kızılkaya, the newspaper's responsible news editor, will be a defendant in each of the trials, since his position makes him legally responsible for everything the newspaper publishes, Bianet reported. Istanbul's 13th, 14th, and 22nd Courts for Serious Crimes will begin hearing the cases of Ayşe Düzkan, Ragıp Duran, Faruk Eren, Ertuğrul Mavioğlu, Celal Başlangıç, Fehim Işık, Yıldırım Türker, Ayşe Batumlu, İhsan Çaralan, Murat Çelikkan, Beyza Üstün, Cemalettin Can, Şebnem Korur Fincancı, Ahmet Nesin, and Erol Önderoğlu, Önderoğlu reported. Prosecutors have also indicted Kemal Can, Öncü Akgül, and Cengiz Baysoy, so they may stand trial with the rest, Özgür Gündem lawyer Özcan Kılıç said.