The new Turkey
Mehmet Gündem
Former Milliyet columnist

01-Aug-2019 16:27

9 July 2019:

Journalist Mehmet Gündem handed down 6-year jail sentence

Court sentences Gündem to 6 years, 10 months and 15 days for “membership in a terrorist organization” and releases him from prison after 21 months in pre-trial detention 

CANSU PİŞKİN, İSTANBUL 

The final hearing of the trial where imprisoned journalist Mehmet Gündem faced the charge of “membership in a terrorist organization” was held on 9 July 2019 at the 35th High Criminal Court of Istanbul.

P24 monitored the hearing. Accompanied by gendarmerie, Gündem was brought to the courtroom from Silivri Prison. His lawyers were in attendance and his family followed the hearing. 

The presiding judge announced that the court had received the digital forensics report. The prosecutor reiterated his previous final opinion. Gündem’s lawyer Mecit Ceylan addressed the court and said: “There is no evidence in the digital forensic report that constitutes crime. You can change the final opinion.” The prosecutor requested Gündem to remain imprisoned.

Addressing the court for his final defense statement, Gündem said: “I have been imprisoned for 21 months. I am accused of terrorism. This is a very heavy accusation. I haven’t been charged before for anything except for traffic violations. While imprisoned I lost my father. I wasn’t allowed to go to his funeral. In May the Constitutional Court found rights violations in the applications of some journalists. Law does not run according to persons, it runs according to principles. Truth is true for everyone.”

He continued, “That I became a member of the Journalists and Writers Foundation is interpreted as an organizational operation. There is no evidence to suggest that the foundation in question was in the status of a terrorist organization. There are no crimes out there, but I am accused. I have been a journalist for 25 years. Communication is essential in our profession. I have been using the same phone number since 1995. I have met people from all segments of the society. Some of the names mentioned in the phone records are the people I worked with at Zaman newspaper. The prosecutor requests my detention due to flight risk. I was on vacation when I found out about the arrest warrant against me. I immediately returned and turned myself in. Then I was released. When yet another warrant was issued I was at home. It is clear that I do not pose a risk of flight.” Requesting his release and acquittal, Gündem concluded his defense statement.

Gündem’s lawyer Ömer Faik Çetiner said: “It is clear that my client having a Bank Asya account does not imply he has links to terrorism. It has been determined in the forensic report that he did not use [the encrypted messaging app] ByLock. There is no evidence to suggest he committed the crimes he is accused of.” Two other lawyers representing Gündem also asked the court to acquit and release the journalist, adding that his lengthy pre-trial detention has turned into a punishment.

Asked for his final words before the verdict, Gündem said: “I wrote four books in prison. My job is to write. But imprisonment for such a long time is enough. I trust justice, reason and conscience.”

Announcing its verdict after a brief recess, the court convicted Gündem of “membership in a terrorist organization” and sentenced him to 6 years 10 months and 15 days in prison. The court also ruled to release Gündem pending the appeal process.
Source: https://expressioninterrupted.com/journalist-
mehmet-gundem-handed-down-6-year-jail-sentence/

8 January 2019:

30 October 2018:

14 August 2018:

Mehmet Gündem stands trial on terror charges

Former Milliyet columnist Mehmet Gündem will remain in prison pending trial until the next hearing on 30 October

Mehmet Gündem, a former columnist for daily Milliyet, has appeared before an Istanbul court on 14 August 2018 for the first time since his arrest nine months ago. Gündem faces charges of “membership of a terrorist organization” and is accused of using ByLock, an encrypted messaging application purported to be exclusively used by the members of the Fethullah Gülen network. During the first hearing of the trial, the 35th High Criminal Court of Istanbul ruled for the continuation of Gündem’s detention and set 30 October as the date of the next hearing.

The hearing monitored by P24 in the courtroom was attended by Gündem and his lawyers.

In his first statements to the court since his arrest, Gündem said he had worked as a journalist for 23 years since 1995. Gündem said he had been working as interviewer for daily Zaman for seven years, before joining daily Milliyet and daily Yeni Şafak. He explained that his 2005 interview with U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gülen, whom the government accuses of orchestrating the coup attempt of 15 July 2016, had been expressly requested by his then-employers at daily Milliyet.

Gündem rejected during the hearing all allegations of having downloaded ByLock to his phone. “I have never used ByLock and I’m not a user whatsoever. I believe that there is a mistake,” he said. He also said the telephone number cited in the ByLock report was not his.
 
“I missed my father’s funeral”

Gündem also denied that his accounts in Bank Asya, a banking company linked to the Fethullah Gülen network, had been opened under the orders of the Gülenist network. “Had I received orders or had I aimed to motivate others, I would have made a call to my readers or to my 54,000 followers on social media,” he told the court. Asked about his acquaintances among “high profile” members of the Fethullah Gülen organization, Gündem said he knew some of those names but strictly in professional or social terms.

While asking for his release, Gündem deplored not being authorized to attend his father’s funeral during his detention. “I couldn’t get the necessary permissions. I missed the funeral. The last nine months were very difficult. It was a punishment rather than a preventive measure,” he said.

In its interim ruling, the court ordered for the continuation of Gündem’s detention due to the nature of the charges levelled against him and argued that there was need for further evidence collection. The court also requested the verification of the ByLock report on Gündem before adjourning the trial until 30 October.*

*Source