The new Turkey
Mehmet Baransu.
Taraf

27-Jan-2020

Medium:	Print
Charge:	Anti-State
Imprisoned:	March 1, 2015

Case Background:

Mehmet Baransu, a former columnist for shuttered Taraf newspaper, and the daily’s former Managing Editor Murat Şevki Çoban are being accused of “possessing and revealing secret documents in relation to national security” over an article published in 2013. The case was filed upon the National Intelligence Agency’s (MİT) complaint, claiming journalists possessed secret MİT documents and had revealed them via the press. The prosecution is asking for a sentence up to 52 years for both Baransu and Çoban.

Mehmet Baransu was already arrested on March 2, 2015, on charges of “revealing information that is to be kept secret for the security and political benefit of the state”. Baransu was also given a 10-month prison sentence in June 2015 on the separate charge of insulting President Erdoğan in a series of tweets.

Baransu and four other Taraf journalists are being tried on several charges in another case in relation to an alleged military coup plan named the “Balyoz operation” in 2010. Journalists are accused of “revealing state secrets” over their reports at the time of the generals’ trials who allegedly planned the Balyoz operation. The generals were acquitted of all charges, yet the journalists’ trial continues.

The most recent hearing of the case against Baransu and Çoban took place on October 17,2018. The trial was adjourned in order missing documents to be completed and 17th hearing will take place on December 12, 2018.

Source

10 December 2019:

Mehmet Baransu remains behind bars in Taraf trial

The trial of the now-defunct Taraf newspaper’s former executives and its reporter Mehmet Baransu for allegedly publishing a classified military document called “Egemen Operation Plan” resumed on 10 December 2019 at the 13th High Criminal Court of Istanbul. The defendants of the case, Mehmet Baransu, Ahmet Altan, Yasemin Çongar, Yıldıray Oğur and Tuncay Opçin stand accused of “procuring, exposing and destroying classified documents concerning the security of the state.”

P24 monitored the three-day hearing. On the first two days of the hearing, Baransu, the only jailed defendant in the case, presented his defense statement. On the third day, the court heard Esra Konur, Baransu’s ex-wife, Ömer Konur, the father of Esra Konur, and Bülent Çakmak, the superintendent of the apartment block where the Konurs reside, all of whom had testified against Baransu during the investigation, as witnesses.

Issuing an interim decision at the end of the hearing on 12 December, the court ruled for the continuation of Baransu’s detention on remand and to send the case file to the prosecution for the drafting of their final opinion following the completion of the motions to be submitted by Bransu’s lawyer for the expansion of the investigation. The court set 8, 9 and 10 April 2020 as the dates for the next hearing.

4 December 2019:

Mehmet Baransu and Murat Şevki Çoban’s trial dismissed for lack of jurisdiction

The trial of Mehmet Baransu, a former reporter for the shuttered Taraf daily, and Murat Şevki Çoban, the newspaper’s former responsible editor, over a news report published in November 2013 resumed on 4 December 2019 at Istanbul’s Anadolu 10th High Criminal Court.

This was the 22nd hearing in the trial, where the journalists are charged with “acquiring documents related to the security of the state,” “exposing documents related to the security of the state” and “exposing documents of the National Intelligence Agency (MİT).”

Baransu, who submitted a letter of excuse to the court, did not attend the hearing and was represented by his lawyer. Çoban, who gave his statement earlier in the trial, was represented by lawyer Figen Albuga Çalıkuşu.

The prosecutor presented his final opinion, asking the court to rule for non-jurisdiction and transfer the case file to the Anadolu 2nd High Criminal Court on the grounds that the alleged offense was committed through the press.

Issuing its verdict at the end of the hearing, the court ruled for the case file to be transferred to Anadolu 2nd High Criminal Court for lack of jurisdiction on the grounds that the alleged crime “was committed through the press.” The case will now be overseen by the Anadolu 2nd High Criminal Court.

24 October 2019:

“Taraf MGK report trial” adjourned until December

The trial of Mehmet Baransu, a former reporter for the shuttered Taraf daily, and the newspaper’s former responsible managing editor, Murat Şevki Çoban, resumed on 24 October 2019 at Istanbul’s Anadolu 10th High Criminal Court.

Baransu and Çoban stand accused of “acquiring documents related to the security of the state,” “exposing documents related to the security of the state” and “exposing documents of the National Intelligence Agency (MİT)” over a news report published in November 2013, titled “Gülen’i bitirme kararı 2004’te MGK’da alındı” (Decision to finish off Gülen was taken by MGK in 2004). Both face possible prison terms of 25 to 52 years.

This was the 21st hearing in the trial. P24 monitored the hearing, where Baransu addressed the court via the judicial video-conferencing system SEGBİS from the Silivri Prison, where he is in pre-trial detention as part of another ongoing trial. Çoban, who gave his statement earlier in the trial, was represented by his lawyer, Figen Albuga Çalıkuşu. Baransu’s lawyer Yahya Engin and the lawyer representing the co-plaintiffs National Intelligence Agency (MİT) and the National Security Council (MGK) were also in attendance.

Addressing the court first, the plaintiffs’ lawyer said they rejected the prosecution’s opinion submitted in the previous hearing, in which they asked the court to rule for non-jurisdiction and send the case file to the Anadolu 2nd High Criminal Court on the grounds that the alleged offense was committed through the press. Arguing that the alleged offense did not fall within the framework of “crimes committed through the press,” the lawyer asked the court to issue their verdict.

Baransu addressed the court next, asking the court to take into consideration the four-month statute of limitations in Turkey’s Press Law and to drop the case.

Lawyers representing Çoban and Baransu also addressed the court, asking the panel to rule for non-jurisdiction in line with the prosecutor’s opinion or to dismiss the case considering the statute of limitations in Press Law if the panel was not of the same opinion.

The prosecutor then asked for a continuance to review the case file in light of the objections. The court granted the prosecution additional time and adjourned the trial until 4 December 2019.

Journalist Emre Orman sent to prison

24 September 2019:

Prosecutor asks court to rule for non-jurisdiction in “Taraf MGK report” trial

The trial of Mehmet Baransu, the former reporter of shuttered Taraf newspaper and the paper’s former responsible managing editor,.Murat Şevki Çoban, resumed on 24 September 2019 at Istanbul’s Anadolu 10th High Criminal Court.

This was the 20th hearing in the trial. P24 monitored the hearing, where neither Baransu nor Çoban were in attendance. They were both represented by their lawyers. The hearing began two hours later than scheduled.

The prosecutor, who was expected to submit his final opinion of the case during this hearing, instead requested the court to issue a decision of non-jurisdiction and send the case file to the Anadolu 2nd High Criminal Court on the grounds that the alleged offense was “committed through the press.”

Accepting the lawyers’ request for a continuance to prepare their statements in response to the prosecutor’s opinion, the court adjourned the trial until 24 October 2019.

27 August 2019:
The trial of former executives of the shuttered Taraf daily and reporter Mehmet Baransu for allegedly publishing a secret military document called the “Egemen Operation Plan” resumed on 27 August 2019 at the 13th High Criminal Court of Istanbul.

Baransu, the only jailed defendant in the case, who was brought to the courtroom from the Silivri Prison accompanied by gendarmerie, continued presenting his defense statement on the first day of the hearing, which was planned to continue for three days.

Taraf’s former executives Ahmet Altan, Yasemin Çongar and Yıldıray Oğur were not in attendance because they are exempt from personal appearance in court. Çongar and Altan were represented in court by lawyer Figen Albuga Çalıkuşu while Oğur was represented by lawyer Gülçin Avşar.

The hearing scheduled for 28 August did not take place because the court failed to send a summons to the Silivri Prison for Baransu to be brought to the courthouse.

Baransu continued making his defense statement on the third day of the hearing on 29 August. In its interim ruling at the end of that hearing, the court ordered the continuation of Mehmet Baransu’s detention on remand on the grounds of “the nature and type of the alleged crime” and because he “has still not completed his defense statement.” The court set 10-11-12 December 2019 as the dates for the next hearing.

11 July 2019:

Mehmet Baransu ordered to remain behind bars

The trial of the former executives of the shuttered daily Taraf and its reporter Mehmet Baransu resumed on 11 July 2019 at the 13th High Criminal Court of Istanbul.

The accusations in the case stem from the alleged publication of a document called “Egemen War Plan.”

P24 monitored the two-day hearing, where Baransu, the only imprisoned defendant in the case, who is in pre-trial detention in the Silivri Prison, was in attendance to continue with his defense statement. Former Taraf executives Ahmet Altan, Yasemin Çongar and Yıldıray Oğur, who are exempt from personal appearance in court, did not attend. They were represented by their lawyers.

Following Baransu’s statement, Altan and Çongar’s lawyer Figen Albuga Çalıkuşu addressed the court, saying there was a mistaken opinion about the subject matter of the trial and that Baransu had been going on about the Balyoz documents in his defense statement although this is of no relation to the present case. “This trial is not about Taraf’s coverage of the Balyoz [sledgehammer] coup plan. The CD’s that included information about the Balyoz coup are unrelated to this case. This trial is about documents that were not among those which the trial at the 4th High Criminal Court was based on,” Çalıkuşu said.

“The document called ‘Egemen war plan’ was uncovered in 2008 among the Turkish Armed Forces’ [TSK] archives of classified documents. The allegation is that the said document was stolen from the archives and leaked to the Greek press. But the TSK has been asserting that this very document had been destroyed the same year. And Taraf’s coverage at the time did not include these documents,” she added.

Following the completion of statements by lawyers, the prosecutor requested the continuation of Baransu’s detention on remand.

Issuing an interim ruling at the end of the two-day hearing, the court ordered the continuation of Baransu’s detention. The court also ruled to separate the file against Baransu concerning the charge of “membership in a terrorist group” to be sent to a criminal court in Mersin, which is also overseeing another criminal case against Baransu. Also ruling to wait for the execution of the arrest warrant against Tuncay Opçin, the fifth defendant in the case, the court adjourned the trial until 27, 28, 29 August.

6 March 2019:

Taraf “MGK” trial adjourned until June
The trial of former Taraf reporter Mehmet Baransu and responsible managing editor Murat Şevki Çoban on the charges of “obtaining classified documents” and “exposing secret information pertaining to the security of state” resumed on 6 March in an Istanbul court.

The case is related to a news report published in Taraf on 28 November 2013 and titled “Gülen’i bitirme kararı 2004’te MGK’da alındı” (Decision to finish off Gülen taken by MGK in 2004). The story said the Fethullah Gülen network was listed as a threat in a National Security Council (MGK) meeting that year. Each journalist faces up to 52 years in prison as part of the case. P24 monitored the hearing at the Istanbul Anadolu 10th High Criminal Court.

Çoban was not in attendance because he had given his defense statement earlier. He was represented by his lawyer Figen Çalıkuşu. Baransu and his lawyer both submitted letters of excuse because they were unable to attend the hearing.

During the hearing, lawyer Çalıkuşu submitted to the court an additional defense statement by Çoban in written form. Addressing the court concerning Çoban’s statement, Çalıkuşu said that according to Turkey’s Press Law, her client could not be held responsible for the content on which the accusations are based because the said content was published under a byline. Çalıkuşu requested Çoban’s acquittal. The prosecution said they restated their final opinion of the case.

The court adjourned the trial until 19 June 2019 for Baransu and his lawyer’s final defense statements in response to the prosecution’s final opinion.

4 February 2019:

Trial into former Taraf executives and reporter adjourned until March

The 11th hearing in a case against former executives of the shuttered Taraf daily and the newspaper’s reporter Mehmet Baransu was held on 4 February at the 13th High Criminal Court of Istanbul.

The accusations in the case stem from the alleged publication of a document called “Egemen War Plan.”

P24 monitored the hearing.

Baransu, the only imprisoned defendant in the case, who is in pre-trial detention in the Silivri Prison, was not in attendance due to health issues and was instead represented by his lawyer. His co-defendants Yasemin Çongar and Ahmet Altan, who are exempt from personal appearance in court, were represented by their lawyer Figen Albuga Çalıkuşu, and Yıldıray Oğur was represented by his lawyer Gülçin Avşar.

Ret. Admiral Hasan Hoşgit and Ret. Colonels Cemal Temizöz and Suat Aytın, who requested to join the lawsuit, were also in attendance.

Lawyer Avşar requested that the court reject the motion for participation because the case file was not based on the “Balyoz” (Sledgehammer) coup plan documents, contrary to what is being claimed by the plaintiffs.

Lawyer Çalıkuşu also asserted that the indictment made clear that the investigation was not about the “Balyoz” documents, but instead about a document called the Egemen War Plan, which the newspaper did not report about. Çalıkuşu also reminded the court that the Constitutional Court held in its ruling concerning Mehmet Baransu’s individual application that his arrest was not based on the news stories published in Taraf.

Issuing an interim ruling at the end of the hearing, the court ruled for the continuation of Baransu’s pre-trial detention and decided to rule on the plaintiffs’ request for participation after the completion of the defense statements.

The court decided to hold the next hearing in the case in two sessions and set 22 March and 25 March as the dates for the hearing. Source

12 December 2018:
Taraf “MGK report” trial adjourned until March
The trial of former Taraf reporter Mehmet Baransu and responsible managing editor Murat Şevki Çoban, who are accused of “obtaining classified documents” and “exposing secret information pertaining to the security of state,” resumed on 12 December at the Istanbul Anadolu 10th High Criminal Court.

The case is related to a news report published in Taraf on 28 November 2013 and titled “Gülen’i bitirme kararı 2004’te MGK’da alındı” (Decision to finish off Gülen taken by MGK in 2004). The story said the Fethullah Gülen network was listed as a threat in a National Security Council (MGK) meeting that year. Both journalists face up to 52 years in prison for a variety of charges as part of the case, including divulging state secrets and exposing documents of the National Intelligence Agency (MİT).

P24 monitored the latest hearing where both defendants were represented by their lawyers. Çoban was not in attendance because he had given his defense statement earlier and Baransu could not attend due to health issues. The court accepted Baransu’s excuse for non-attendance and adjourned the trial until 6 March 2019.

1-2 November 2018:

Trial of Taraf executives and reporter Baransu adjourned until January;

The 10th hearing in a case against former executives of the shuttered Taraf daily and the newspaper’s reporter Mehmet Baransu was held on 1-2 November at the 13th High Criminal Court of Istanbul.

The accusations stem from the alleged publication of a document called “Egemen War Plan.”

P24 monitored the hearing where Baransu, the only imprisoned defendant in the case who is in pretrial detention in the Silivri Prison, and defense lawyers, as well as plaintiffs Dursun Çiçek and retired army Colonel Suat Aytın were in attendance.

Baransu made his defense statement during the two-day hearing. He explained to the court that his defense statement was taking too long to complete because some digital files he had requested had only been delivered last week, and that he has also been busy preparing defense statements for numerous other ongoing cases against him.

Recounting to the court how he had received the four CDs that included the “Balyoz” (Sledgehammer) coup plan documents, Baransu said following the publication of the relevant news stories in Taraf, an investigation was launched and that he handed the said CDs to the prosecution. As for the alleged war plans that constitute the basis of the allegations in this case, Baransu said they had not seen any such document. “Right now I am being put on trial in relation to some document which I have never seen or heard of,” Baransu said, adding that this was a politically motivated trial.

Continuing his defense statement on the second day of the hearing, Baransu said he had not been allowed to bring in the courtroom newspaper clippings and books to use in his defense. Adding that the said book constituted evidence, Baransu said his right to a fair trial was being violated.

After Baransu had completed his defense, his lawyer Yahya Engin addressed the court. Noting that his client had been in detention on remand for almost four years, Engin called the court’s attention to Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which is about the right to liberty and security. Adding that the relevant law stipulated a maximum five years of pretrial detention, Engin requested that his client be released pending trial. Engin also asked the court to reject the plaintiffs’ requests for becoming intervening parties in the trial.

The prosecution requested that Baransu be remanded in detention and given additional time to complete his defense statement, as well as the decision concerning the plaintiffs’ requests to be made following the completion of defense statements.

Announcing its interim ruling at the end of the two-day hearing, the court ruled to keep Baransu in pretrial detention and adjourned the trial until 3-4 January 2019 to allow additional time for the defense.

Çağdaş Erdoğan trial adjourned until March

The third hearing in the trial where photojournalist Çağdaş Erdoğan stands accused of terrorism-related charges for his photographs and his social media posts, was held on 2 November in Istanbul.

Erdoğan, who is exempt from appearing in the court, did not attend.

The hearing at the 33rd High Criminal Court of Istanbul was monitored by a barrister from the Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales, Michael Ivers, as well as P24.

Announcing its interim ruling at the end of the hearing, the court adjourned the trial until 26 March 2019, awaiting the outcome of the examination of digital material belonging to Erdoğan, and the response from the Gendarmerie General Command concerning an inquiry by the court. Source

3 November:

Turkish court rules to keep journalist Baransu in prison

A Turkish court on Friday ruled for the continuation of the imprisonment of journalist Mehmet Baransu, a former correspondent for the now-defunct Taraf newspaper, after two days of hearings, adjourning the trial until Jan. 3-4, 2019, Turkish media reports said.

Baransu, who was arrested in March 2015 for allegedly obtaining and publishing secret state documents in connection with the disclosure of a war plan called the Egemen (Sovereign) Operation Plan, continued to deliver his defense at the İstanbul 13th High Criminal Court on Friday.

Baransu is charged with “possession of documents classified as state secrets,” “exposing classified information crucial to state security and interests” and allegedly “damaging, procuring or stealing documents concerning the security of the state or using said documents outside their intended purpose” in the indictment for this case, overseen by the İstanbul 13th High Criminal Court.

According to information shared by @P24DavaTakip, which follows the trials of jailed journalists in Turkey, Baransu said in his defense: “I am on trial for a plan named the Egemen Operation Plan, which I have never seen. I am telling you what I wrote. I did not see any war plan. I am on trial for a document that I did not know about at all.”

“I wrote about the Balyoz [Sledgehammer] coup plan, and it is an honor for me as a journalist to write about a coup plan. If there was an injustice in the Sledgehammer trial, it is the problem of those who conducted the trial,” said Baransu.

Underlining the fact that the authenticity of the Balyoz coup plan was confirmed by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s ultranationalist ally Devlet Bahçeli, the leader of Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), in 2015, by former Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ in 2016, by President Erdoğan in 2016 and by Parliament Speaker Binali Yıldırım 15 or 20 days ago, Baransu said he viewed his trial as theater.

“I have not even been allowed to bring newspaper clippings or books to use during my defense in court. The book I am talking about is part of the evidence,” Baransu said and added that he has not been tried fairly.

Reminding that he was arrested by Judge Cevdet Özcan, who released an Iranian drug baron, Baransu said, “This case is garbage.” Showing the signature of Judge Özcan under his arrest warrant to the panel of judges, Baransu said: “This judge hid documents during my testimony. I stand behind my news stories. Does this judge stand behind his decision for my arrest?”

In an article that appeared in the Habertürk newspaper on Wednesday, columnist Fatih Altaylı claimed that a former Justice and Development Party (AKP) deputy pressured a judge to have Iranian drug lord Naci Sherifi Zindashti released from prison pending trial.

The notorious drug lord and nine of his gang members had been detained by İstanbul narcotics police in a raid in April of this year. Zindashti was released pending trial along with three of his men on Oct. 19 by Judge Özcan, who approved his lawyer’s application.

“I am not saying anything about the detention because I view these cases as theater,” Baransu said, adding: “The real face of the judge who arrested me was exposed, the real face of others will also be exposed. A judge who doesn’t know why I was arrested rules for the continuation of my imprisonment. People should see how ‘fairly’ I have been tried.”

Former Taraf editor-in-chief Ahmet Altan, former executive editor of the same newspaper Yasemin Çongar and managing editor Yıldıray Oğur are also defendants in the case, facing up to 52 years, six months in prison for “destroying, using outside the intended purpose of, and illegally acquiring documents related to the security of the state.” Another defendant, Tuncay Opçin, remains at large.

Baransu is also jailed pending trial in a separate case that concerns his reporting in 2013 on an alleged customs fraud involving genetically modified rice. The indictment accuses Baransu of “attempting to overthrow the government” and “membership in a terrorist organization.”

Baransu is still being held at Silivri Prison in İstanbul, facing nearly a thousand years in jail as part of scores of different cases. Source

7 August 2018:

Mehmet Baransu refuses to continue defense, trial adjourned till November

Former Taraf correspondent Mehmet Baransu on 7 August appeared at the ninth hearing of a court case against former journalists of the shuttered daily on the alleged publication of documents called “Egemen War Plan.”

P24 monitored the hearing at the 13th High Criminal Court of Istanbul. The hearing could only begin in the afternoon because one of the judges on the panel was assigned to two different panels. The hearing was originally planned to last for three days and Baransu was expected to continue with his defense statement, but he refused to go on with it without the court’s original panel.

His lawyer Yahya Engin also said they requested to continue with their defense statement before the original panel overseeing the case. Engin also requested for Baransu to be released from pretrial detention in line with the European Convention on Human Rights and case law by the European Court of Human Rights.

Baransu then requested for this file to be merged with an ongoing trial against him in Mersin. Issuing an interim ruling after a brief recess, the court ruled for the continuation of Baransu’s detention. The panel also decided to examine the indictment for the case in Mersin, and adjourned the trial until 1-2 November 2018.

27 June:

Taraf “MGK report” trial adjourned until October

The 15th hearing in the trial of former Taraf reporter Mehmet Baransu and responsible managing editor Murat Şevki Çoban, who are accused of obtaining classified documents and exposing secret information pertaining to the security of state, was held on June 27.

The Istanbul Anadolu 10th High Criminal Court is hearing the case which is related to a news report published in Taraf on November 28, 2013, titled “Gülen’i Bitirme Kararı 2004’te MGK’da Alındı” (Decision to finish off Gülen taken by MGK in 2004). The story said the Fethullah Gülen network was listed as a threat in a National Security Council (MGK) meeting that year. Both journalists face up to 52 years in prison for a variety of charges as part of the case, including divulging state secrets and exposing documents of the National Intelligence Agency (MİT).

Addressing the court during the hearing, monitored by P24, Baransu requested that the court send a writ to the General Staff for some documents to refer to in his defense statement. The court rejected that plea.
Baransu’s lawyer Yahya Engin requested additional time as he had been recently appointed to the case after Baransu’s previous lawyer resigned. The court accepted the lawyer’s request for additional time and adjourned the trial until October 17, 2018.

11 May 2015
Karaca, Baransu and officers moved to "torturous," inhumane cells

10 May 2015, Top court rules MIT audio surveillance

Turkey's top court has determined that the audio surveillance of prominent journalists by the country's intelligence agency constitutes a violation of their rights.

The Constitutional Court has ruled that the illegal eavesdropping by the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) on former Taraf Editor-in-Chief Ahmet Altan and current Taraf Deputy Editor-in-Chief Yasemin ?ongar as well as current Taraf columnists Amberin Zaman and Mehmet Baransu, former Taraf columnist Markar Esayan and former lead writer for the Star daily Professor Mehmet Altan constitutes a violation of their rights.

According to the decision rendered after the journalists applied individually to the Constitutional Court, the court determined that the audio surveillance was carried out illegally and that the decision handed down by the Istanbul 9th, 11th, and 14th High Criminal Courts at differing times to allow the audio surveillance of the journalists by MIT is a violation of human rights.

The Constitutional Court determined that although the Code on Criminal Procedure (CMK) article pertaining to the surveillance was in line with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), the surveillance of the journalists under assumed names was not and ruled for the payment of TL 3,500 to each of the litigants. However, the court rejected the claim of the journalists that freedom of the press had been violated, citing a lack of evidence.

After the surveillance of the journalists was publicized in 2012, the journalists applied to the Istanbul Public Prosecutors' Office, which in turn wanted to begin an investigation into the MIT agents on charges of "forgery of official documents, violation of confidentiality of communication and wrongful conduct." However, as the investigation of MIT agents who are charged with committing a crime in the course of their job is possible only with the permission of the prime minister, the case folder was sent to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who ruled against their investigation. The journalists then as a last resort applied to the Constitutional Court, which ruled in January that the MIT agents who illegally listened in on the phone calls of journalists do not have immunity, allowing for those members of the intelligence agency to be investigated.
Source: http://www.todayszaman.com/national_top-court-rules-mit-audio-surveillance-of-journalists-violation-of-rights_380310.html

14 December 2014
Turkish police raid Zaman building, attempt to detain editor
Turkey's anti-terrorism units have attempted to raid headquarters of the country's top-selling newspaper Zaman in an early-morning operation, with a goal to detain its editor-in-chief, but had to turn back due to protests by readers. .......................
-----------Among the journalists to be detained are Kenes, Dumanli, Samanyolu Broadcasting Group General Manager Hidayet Karaca, Taraf daily and Today’s Zaman columnist Emre Uslu, Taraf daily reporter Mehmet Baransu and Bug�n daily columnist Nuh G�n�ltas.

---------------------

31. December 2014
2 Turkish journalists detained for posting critical tweets

----------------

14 December 2014
Turkish police raid Zaman building, attempt to detain editor

-----------------

22 November 2014
Outspoken Turkish journalist Mehmet Baransu released after detention
----------------------

12 November 2014
Journalist Baransu faces 7 years for insulting Erdogan on Twitter

-------------------

13 August 2014
Gül targeted in social media smear campaign by pro-Erdoğan trolls
...............In February, several Twitter users, known for their closeness to the AK Party government, circulated a list of "to-be-arrested" journalists. Those users have been naming journalists and claiming that they would be arrested soon. Among them are Nazlı Ilıcak, Emre Uslu, Cüneyt Özdemir, Mehmet Baransu, Cengiz Çandar, Ahmet Hakan Coşkun, Ekrem Dumanlı, Hasan Cemal and Ali Bulaç. .....................

-----------------------
12 March 2014
Did a Turkish minister really say ?f*** the rest??
..........Two phone recordings published on YouTube late March 11 reportedly show Interior Minister Efkan Ala, the prime minister?s undersecretary at the time, speaking separately to Istanbul Governor H?seyin Avni Mutlu and Tayfun Acarer, the head of the Information Technologies Board (BTK). The alleged conversations on Dec. 19 are about reporter Mehmet Baransu, who was publishing on his website documents about the Dec. 17 corruption probe and the accusations in the investigations against four ministers. Read the full article

----------------

9 August 2014
Journalist Baransu detained overnight, released after questioning

----------------

13 March 2014
Recordings show unlawfulness replaces rule of law, arbitrary practices

.................Wednesday's recordings followed an earlier leaked audio in which Ala -- who served as the Prime Ministry undersecretary then -- allegedly told Istanbul Governor Mutlu to order a raid on the house of journalist Mehmet Baransu and arrest him for publishing state documents related to the corruption case. "Detain him immediately. He is committing a crime and nothing has been done to him. As long as he continues to publish the documents, it is impossible to talk about the existence of a state," said a voice allegedly belonging to Ala, who appeared stunned and bewildered by the revelations in the documents. "Detain him soon. If the prosecutor fails to bring in the journalist, detain the prosecutor, too," Ala was also allegedly heard saying.

In yet another audio recording, Ala was heard instructing a high-ranking official at the Telecommunications Directorate (TIB) to block Baransu's website. When Tayfun Acarer, who holds a key post at the institution, voiced his discomfort over the lack of any court order to block the website, Ala was heard telling him to not worry about it. "We can even pass new legislation to make it [blocking a website without a court order] legal," said Ala, trying to calm the TIB official down, two months before the latest Internet law was enacted in Parliament......................

------------------------------
11 March 2014
PM Erdogan's undersecretary ordered arrest of Taraf journalist,
--------------------------

PM's undersecretary orders governor to call in raid

Police detained Baransu, a former columnist and correspondent for the daily Taraf, on March 1, 2015, at his home in Istanbul, according to his lawyer and news reports. A court on March 2 arraigned the journalist and jailed him pending trial on charges of obtaining secret documents. Authorities subsequently added new charges, but if convicted on the obtaining secret documents charge alone, he could face up to eight years in prison.

His lawyer, Sercan Sakallı, told CPJ that a court order ruled that the investigation is secret, limiting his access to the evidence against his client.

The lawyer said authorities focused on a document titled "The Sovereign Action Plan" that was part of a packet of documents Baransu shared with prosecutors in 2010. That document, the lawyer said, was never made public, and authorities did not previously question the reporter's possession of a classified document.

In 2010, Baransu broke the news of an alleged military coup plan that came to be known as Sledgehammer. Written by Baransu and other then-editors of Taraf as a series, the Sledgehammer story was based on what were said to be military documents leaked to Baransu by an anonymous source. "The Sovereign Action Plan" was among these documents, but it was not reported on because it was not related to the alleged coup plan, according to local reports. In court testimony, Baransu said he delivered the documents he had received from the anonymous source to prosecutors in 2010, after Taraf published its series. The documents were then used by Turkish prosecutors to start an investigation in which hundreds of suspects, including journalists, were tried on anti-state charges.

On June 30, 2015, the Anadolu Second Court of the First Instance sentenced Baransu to 10 months in prison on additional charges of insulting president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in a series of tweets and retweets about allegations of government corruption in December 2013, Sakallı told CPJ at the time. Sakallı said some of the tweets had been issued from accounts impersonating the journalist.

Sakallı told CPJ that several other cases were pending in Turkish courts against Baransu that stem from his critical reporting in 2013 on issues such as the alleged genetic modification of food products in Turkey and government wrongdoing. In these cases, Baransu is accused of being a member of the alleged Fethullah Gülen Terrorist Organization--a charge that carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison, the lawyer said. The Turkish government claims Gülen’s group, which it calls FETÖ/PDY, was behind a failed coup attempt in July 2016.

A new set of charges were added to Baransu's list of alleged crimes in 2016, according to press reports.

As of late 2016, Baransu, alongside four other former Taraf journalists and an author, faced another trial in connection to the alleged "Sledgehammer" conspiracy, according to press reports. Istanbul's 13th Court for Serious Crimes was considering new charges of "founding and leading an armed terrorist organization," "making propaganda for [a terrorist] organization," "exposing information that is to be kept secret for the safety and political benefit of the state," "obtaining secret documents concerning the safety of the state," and "damaging, using outside of its purpose, [and] obtaining [or] stealing ... documents concerning the safety of the state," according to the indictment, which CPJ reviewed. These charges collectively carry a maximum sentence of 75 years in prison, according to a report by the media monitoring organization P24.

The National Intelligence Agency (MIT) sent a list of alleged Bylock app users, including Baransu, to the court, according to reports in May 2017. Authorities claim that use of the encrypted communications app is evidence of FETÖ/PDY membership. Baransu’s lawyer, Ahmet Emre Bayrak, who is currently representing the journalist, told CPJ in late 2017 that his client denies the accusations and said that he has done nothing but practice journalism.

Nesibe Baransu, the journalist's wife, told CPJ in late 2016 that her husband was deliberately kept hungry, held in filthy conditions, verbally abused, and mistreated while being transferred from prison to various courts for his hearings.

Baransu has developed health problems because of the poor treatment he receives in prison, the lawyer said in late 2017. Authorities denied Baransu’s request to be transferred to a hospital because of lack of personnel, the lawyer said. Bayrak said that authorities kept the journalist in a cell without heating for weeks when he was temporarily transferred to Mersin for his trial. He was not given food when he was taken to court in Istanbul for the hearings of the other trials. He has limited access to toilet facilities, Bayrak said.

As of December 4, 2017, the Turkish Embassy in Washington D.C. did not respond to CPJ’s emailed request for comment on claims that jailed journalists are mistreated.

Due to the state of emergency imposed after the failed attempted coup in 2016, Baransu, like other journalists accused of terrorism charges, has access to a lawyer for only one hour a week. Prison staff record and monitor the meetings, Bayrak said. The journalist has limited access to documents and books required to prepare his defense, and authorities denied him access to a book that he wrote, Bayrak said.

As of late 2017, Baransu was jailed in Silivri Prison in Istanbul.

This page is licensed under Attribution NonCommercial NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

The new Turkey Mehmet Baransu. Taraf