The new Turkey
Haydar Ergül.
Editor with the periodical Demokratik Modernite

21-Feb-2020

26 December 2019:

Judicial control measures imposed on Haydar Ergül partially lifted

The 10th hearing of a trial where Haydar Ergül, the editor of the Demokratik Modernite magazine, and 18 other defendants stand accused of “membership in a terrorist group” took place on 26 December 2019 at the 22nd High Criminal Court of Istanbul. Members and administrators from the political parties HDP and DBP are among Ergül’s co-defendants in the case.

P24 monitored the hearing, where Ergül did not attend. Defendants Abdullah Geldi, Eşref Yaşar, Ahmet Sağınç, Şirin Akyol, Ercan Doğru, Mevlüt Aykoç and Münevver İlingi were present in the courtroom. 

Ergül’s lawyer Özcan Kılıç presented his client’s medical reports to the court, asking the panel to lift the judicial control measure imposed on Ergül in the form of reporting to a police station in Yalova once a month to give his signature. He and other defense lawyers also asked the court to grant their clients exemption from attending courtroom hearings.

Issuing an interim decision at the end of the hearing, the court ruled to grant the defendants exemption from attending hearings and lifted their obligation to regularly give their signature to the nearest police station. Ordering the continuation of the international travel ban imposed on the defendants, the court adjourned the trial until 14 May 2020.

28 June 2019:

Journalist Haydar Ergül’s trial adjourned until December

The trial of Haydar Ergül, the editor of the periodical Demokratik Modernite, and 18 others on the charge of “membership in a terrorist group” resumed on 28 June 2019 at the 22nd High Criminal Court of Istanbul. This was the ninth hearing in the case. The court ruled to release detained defendants Eşref Yaşar, Ayşegül Turhan, Mustafa Elma, Münevver İlingi and Aysel Diler and adjourned the trial until 26 December 2019.

5 April 2019:

A trial in which Haydar Ergül, an editor with the periodical Demokratik Modernite, who had been in detention on remand since January 2018, is among 19 defendants, resumed on 5 April in Istanbul.
 
Ergül is charged with “membership in a terrorist group” in the case, which is overseen by the 22nd High Criminal Court of Istanbul. Among Ergül’s co-defendants in the case are members and administrators of People’s Democratic Party (HDP) and the Democratic Regions Party (DBP).
 
This was the eighth hearing in the trial. P24 monitored the hearing, where Abdullah Geldi, one of the eight jailed defendants in the case, was in attendance in the courtroom as well as three unjailed defendants. Haydar Ergül and his co-defendant Ercan Doğru addressed the court from the Silivri Prison via the courtroom video-conferencing system SEGBİS.
 
Early in the hearing, the prosecution requested the continuation of the detention of all jailed defendants.
 
Addressing the court for his defense statement during the hearing, Ergül said he was placed in pre-trial detention without any concrete evidence against him. Noting that he has been in prison for 15 months, Ergül said he could not personally attend courtroom hearings due to health-related problems. Ergül requested to be released.
 
Issuing an interim ruling at the end of the hearing, the court ruled to release Ergül, Doğru and Geldi pending the conclusioın of the trial. The court imposed on all three judicial control measures in the form of an international travel ban and reporting to the nearest police station once a month to give their signature. The court set 28 June as the date for the next hearing.