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09-Oct-2019 17:08

Prosecutor appeals acquittals in Özgür Gündem solidarity trial

A prosecutor has appealed the trial court’s verdict in the “Özgür Gündem solidarity trial,” where Erol Önderoğlu, the Turkey representative of Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Professor Şebnem Korur-Fincancı, the president of the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TİHV), and journalist and writer Ahmet Nesin were accused on account of their participation in a 2016 campaign to show solidarity with the now-defunct pro-Kurdish newspaper Özgür Gündem. The trial court had acquitted all three of all charges in the final hearing of their trial on 17 July 2019.

17 July 2019:

October 9, 2018 - Updated on October 10, 2018

Summing-up in trial of RSF’s Turkey representative delayed until January

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) reiterates its call for the Turkish authorities to dismiss the case against its Turkey representative and two other human rights defenders after an Istanbul court today adjourned their trial for the seventh time in nearly two years. 

RSF also appeals for as much support as possible for the next hearing, scheduled for 28 January, at which the prosecution is finally expected to present its summing-up and announce the sentences it wants the court to impose.

Attended by two of the three defendants, RSF Turkey representative Erol Önderoğlu and human rights defender Şebnem Korur Fincancı, today’s hearing was adjourned after just five minutes on the grounds that the court needs to examine the written statement sent by the third defendant, Ahmet Nesin, who has fled the country.

All three are facing up to 14 years in prison on charges of “propaganda for a terrorist organization,” “condoning crime” and “inciting crime” for taking part in a campaign of solidarity with the pro-Kurdish newspaper Özgür Gündem.

“This threat hanging over our colleagues sends an intimidatory message to Turkey’s journalists and civil society that is unacceptable,” said Johann Bihr, the head of RSF’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia desk, who attended the hearing. “We call for the broadest possible support for the next hearing, at which the prosecution is to present its summing-up.”

Önderoğlu added: “Our only crime was to defend pluralism and we will continue to do so. We call on the justice system to recognize civil society’s legitimate role and to end these arbitrary prosecutions.”

A leading press freedom defender who has represented RSF in Turkey since 1996, Önderoğlu and his two fellow defendants have been on trial since November 2016 for their role in a campaign to defend media pluralism.

In all, around 40 people have been or are being prosecuted for taking part in the campaign, in which they symbolically took turns at being Özgür Gündem’s “editor for a day” in mid-2016 because it had been the victim of judicial persecution. It ended up being forcibly closed in August 2016. 

Özgür Gündem’s successor, Özgürlükçü Demokrasi, was itself placed under judicial control in March of this year. Önderoğlu and his two co-defendants are the only participants to have been arrested in connection with this campaign. They spent ten days in provisional detention in June 2016. 

Representatives of PEN International and Norwegian PEN and diplomats from France, Luxembourg, Norway and the United Kingdom also attended today’s hearing at a court in the Istanbul district of Çağlayan. 

Eleven other journalists, including Faruk Eren, Ertuğrul Mavioğlu, İhsan Çaralan and Fehim Işık, are due to appear in court tomorrow in Istanbul for taking part in the same solidarity campaign.

The already worrying situation of Turkey’s media has become critical since an abortive coup in July 2016. Many media outlets have been closed summarily, without any effective form of recourse, mass trials are being held and Turkey now holds the world record for the number of professional journalists in prison. It is ranked 157th out of 180 countries in RSF’s 2018 World Press Freedom Index.

9 November 2016:

Court rules trial of RSF representative, two writers will continue 
Istanbul's 13th Court for Serious Crimes today rejected a motion to acquit Erol Önderoğlu, Turkey representative of the press freedom organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF), author Ahmet Nesin, and columnist Şebnem Koru Fincancı of terrorism, incitement, and separatism charges, the leftist Evrenselnewspaper reported today.

The charges stem from the coverage of the now-shuttered pro-Kurdish daily newspaper Özgür Gündem on the days when each symbolically acted as co-editor of the publication to protest authorities' relentless judicial harassment of its staff. A court ordered the newspaper closed and police raided its Istanbul office on August 16, CPJ reported at the time.

The court adjourned the trial of the three until January 11. They are free, pending the conclusion of their trials. The newspaper's responsible news editor, İnan Kızılkaya, is a codefendant in each case, as his position made him responsible for everything the newspaper published. He is jailed, pending the conclusion of dozens of trials against him.

1 July 2018:

Columnist freed pending trial
Istanbul's 14th Court of Serious Crimes today ordered Cumhuriyet columnist Ahmet Nesin released, pending trial, the pro-Kurdish daily newspaper Özgür Gündem reported. Police on June 20 arrested Nesin, Erol Önderoğlu, Turkey representative for the press freedom group Reporters Without Borders (RSF), and Şebnem Korur Fincancı, an academic, columnist and human rights advocate, on incitement and terrorism charges for articles that appeared in Özgür Gündem on the days each symbolically acted as co-editor of the newspaper for a day to protest authorities' judicial harassment of the daily.

22 June 2016:
Three indicted on terrorism charges following show of solidarity with newspaper
Prosecutors today issued indictments against Erol Önderoğlu, Turkey representative for the press freedom group Reporters Without Borders, Şebnem Korur Fincancı, a rights activist and columnist for the left-leaning Evrensel newspaper, and Ahmet Nesin, a contributor to the opposition Cumhuriyet newspaper, Hürriyet reported. The three are individually accused of "openly provoking [the people] to commit crimes," "praising a crime and a criminal," and "making propaganda for a [terrorist] organization." They each face a maximum penalty of 14 years and six months in prison if found guilty. CPJ on Monday called for their immediate release and for any charges against them to be dropped.

Journalists and activists have been taking turns acting as co-editor of the newspaper Özgür Gündem for a day to show solidarity with the newspaper's staff, who have been the subject of relentless judicial harassment. To date, authorities have opened criminal investigations into at least 37 of the journalists, academics, and rights activists who have participated in the campaign.

Journalists gathered in central Istanbul Tuesday evening to demand the release of the three, according to press reports.

Meanwhile, Fincancı, Önderoğlu, and Nesin released messages from prison via their lawyers.

"I was expecting this decision. I am not surprised. Being here in such a period is an indication that we have done something good. It is an honor to be arrested by the state in Turkey," Fincancı, a rights activist, said, in remarks carried by the news website Bianet.

"I don't remember a period in which legal intimidation has become this visible," Önderoğlu, Turkey representative for the press freedom group Reporters Without Borders, said in remarks reported by Bianet. "Embracing our values of freedom will gain us more strength."

"If they think we will give up our demands for peace and democracy by arresting us, they are wrong," Nesin, a contributor to the opposition Cumhuriyetnewspaper, said in remarks carried by the local media.