The new Turkey Pelin Ünker The finance desk editor for Cumhuriyet daily
Last update: 26-Apr-2020 11:07
Pelin Ünker Journalist Pelin Ünker was hit with three separate lawsuits over her article series published in Cumhuriyet daily in November 2017 about the “Paradise Papers” leaks, a set of confidential documents revealing the investments of high profile names in offshore tax havens. Lawsuit filed by Binali Yıldırım and his sons Ünker first appeared before court on 17 July 2018 at the Anadolu 24th Civil Court of First Instance for the first hearing of a lawsuit filed by former Prime Minister and former Speaker of the Parliament and AKP’s nominee for Mayor of Istanbul in the 2019 local elections Binali Yıldırım and his sons against her and the former Executive Board Chairman of the Cumhuriyet Foundation Orhan Erinç. Yıldırım and his sons, Erkam and Bülent Yıldırım, were seeking TL 500,000 in non-pecuniary damages claiming that Ünker’s two reports on Yıldırım’s sons owning shares in at least five companies located in Malta “violated their personal rights.” The judge postponed the trial until 6 September 2018 to allow time for the defense statement in response to the allegations to be submitted in written form. At the second hearing held on 6 September 2018, Yıldırım’s lawyer Muhammed Gök submitted to court documents relating to another criminal case filed with the Anadolu 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance against Ünker over the same coverage on the charge of “insulting a public official.” Gök said that in that case the court had ruled non-jurisdiction. Ünker’s lawyer Yalçın told court that they were not aware of any additional ongoing criminal proceedings or investigations against his client, but that in such an event, all legal proceedings relating to the same coverage should be merged in a single file. The judge then adjourned the trial indefinitely, since this was a non-pecuniary compensation case, and since it had become evident that other lawsuits and investigations in relation to the same coverage were under way, the court would await the conclusion of those criminal proceedings and would resume the trial afterwards. Yıldırım’s “insult” case In November 2018 another lawsuit was filed against Ünker by the lawyers representing the Yıldırıms, this time on the charge of “insulting a public official.” Ünker appeared before the Istanbul 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance on 27 December 2018 for the case’s first hearing. In her defense statement, Ünker explained that the news reports for which she was accused were not only about Binali Yıldırım and his sons but that numerous well-known figures were also mentioned in both stories. Ünker continued: “The stories also mentioned Binali Yıldırım’s uncle and nephew, however, no complaints were filed concerning these people. Binali Yıldırım did not deny the existence of the said companies in the statement he issued after the news broke. On the contrary, he said these kinds of trade relations were not unusual. The news stories did not claim the said offshore companies were illegal businesses; they said these companies were avoiding paying taxes through loopholes in legislation. The news stories did not say this was a crime; they questioned how ethical it was.” Adding that her stories did not include any insulting expressions, Ünker also told the court that she sent seven questions to Yıldırım’s lawyers concerning the leaks two weeks before the publication of the story, but that she never got a response. Addressing the court following Ünker, her lawyer told the court that the newspaper published Binali Yıldırım’s statement concerning the leaks in its entirety and that it also ran his rebuttal. The lawyer added that the headline of a related story in the newspaper which read, “Devletin başı vergiden kaçıyor” (Head of the government avoiding tax) was not Ünker’s statement but a remark by a main opposition CHP lawmaker. Addressing the court following Ünker’s lawyer Abbas Yalçın, the plaintiffs’ lawyer Gök said the headlines of the news stories “gave the impression that the then-prime minister was involved in [tax evasion].” Gök told court that they did not respond to the questions Ünker sent because they “were irrelevant with the news.” “They were incriminating and biased questions. We did not have to respond,” Gök said. In response to the plaintiffs’ lawyer, Ünker said the phrase “Head of the government avoiding tax” had not appeared in any part of her stories and that it had been the headline of another story published in the newspaper. She also explained that the questions she had sent to Yıldırım were not aimed at incriminating the politician but at seeking for information. Issuing an interim ruling at the end of the hearing, the judge adjourned the case until 8 January 2019 for the final defense statement to be prepared. At the second hearing that took place on 8 January 2019, Ünker and her lawyers strongly denied both accusations and said a conviction would amount to an unacceptable intervention to freedom of the press. Ünker’s lawyer Tora Pekin noted that the documents were published by numerous prestigious newspapers across the world. The documents had first been leaked to the Munich-based Süddeutsche Zeitung daily newspaper. “Among all the countries claiming to be a democracy, only Turkey pressed criminal charges against a journalist covering the leaks,” Pekin said. Pekin also said that the reporting did not harm Yıldırım’s political career, given he was elected Speaker of the Parliament after the July 2018 elections and was at the time running for mayor of Istanbul from the ranks of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).. Pekin added: “The news reports are true. Owning offshore companies is not a crime. But these being owned by the sons of the prime minister is an ethical issue. Hence, the reports have a news value.” The Yıldırım family wanted to set an example by obtaining a sentence against Ünker, Pekin said. “They want the person who did these reports to receive a prison sentence, so they don’t have to deal with these kinds of news reports anymore. Such a ruling would be unlawful.” He cited many rulings by the European Court of Human Rights which guaranteed freedom of the press and the right of journalists to criticize politicians. The lawyer added: “Publishing these news reports so that the public forms an opinion on the matter is an obligation and cannot be prevented on any grounds.” Ünker’s lawyers also reiterated that none of the reports stated that owning an offshore company was illegal. The complaint filed by Yıldırım’s lawyers contained news reports that weren’t written by Ünker and weren’t part of the “Paradise Papers” coverage, lawyer Abbas Yalçın said. He repeated that the story which read “Head of the government avoiding tax” was not Ünker’s statement but a comment made by opposition MP Murat Emir. “You cannot hold Ünker responsible for reports she didn’t write,” Yalçın said. Yıldırım’s lawyer Muhammed Gök then asked the court to convict Ünker as the news stories had created “a negative perception” about Yıldırım. “My client’s personal rights have been violated. He was insulted and libeled. We want her to be sentenced,” he said. Following a short deliberation, the judge found Ünker guilty of both libel and insult, sentencing her to 13.5 months in prison and fining the journalist TL 8,660 in non-pecuniary damages. The judge opted to not defer the sentence on the grounds that Ünker might commit the same crime — publish investigative journalism reports — again. After the 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance of Istanbul sentenced and fined Ünker in January, on 28 February the Anadolu 24th Civil Court of First Instance went on to issue its verdict in the compensation case that was put on hold without waiting for a higher court’s review of the verdict rendered by the criminal court of first instance. The court found journalists Pelin Ünker and Orhan Erinç guilty and ordered they pay the Yıldırım’s a sum of TL 30,000 in compensation. On 19 April 2019 an appellate court noted in its ruling, that the news story in question was published on 6 November 2017; the investigation into Ünker upon the complaint of Bülent and Erkam Yıldırım was launched on 16 November; the indictment was submitted on 31 August 2018 and the trial process began after the indictment was accepted by the court on 3 September 2018. The court ruled for the conviction against Ünker in the case filed by Bülent and Erkam Yıldırım to be dropped on the grounds that the prosecution unlawfully proceeded with the case and Ünker was convicted even though the four-month statute of limitations for pressing charges as per Article 26/1 of Turkey’s press law had expired. The appellate court upheld the legal fine Ünker was given on the charge of “insulting a public official.” However, it ruled that the compensation Ünker was ordered to pay should be TL 7,080 instead of TL 8,660. Albayrak complaint Ünker faced yet another criminal case for her coverage of the “Paradise Papers” leaks, this time launched upon complaints by the Albayrak brothers. The accusation was based on the news stories headlined “Off-Shore Kardeşler: Kayıtlardan damat bakan Albayrak ile kardeşi de çıktı” (Offshore brothers: Names of presidential son-in-law Minister Albayrak and his brother come up in leaked documents) and “Enerji Bakanı Albayrak ve kardeşi de bir dönem Malta’yı tercih etmiş” (Energy Minister Albayrak and his brother chose Malta as well), also published in Cumhuriyet in November 2017. The indictment accused Ünker of “manipulating public opinion by way of writing about acts such as tax avoidance, tax evasion, [etc.], which could result in those acts being attributed to the plaintiffs” and claimed that “the attribution of these acts is beyond the scope of freedom of the press.” Addressing the 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance of Istanbul during the second hearing of this case on 21 February 2019, Ünker said that the “Paradise Papers” leaks concerned politicians and businesspeople from 47 countries and that only two of the politicians whose names appeared in the leaks filed lawsuits against journalists — and both those politicians were from Turkey. During the final hearing of the case on 28 March 2019, Ünker’s lawyers referred to Sarı’s recent acquittal in a case with similar facts and asserted that two courts rendering contrasting verdicts (acquittal and conviction) in two cases with similar facts would be in breach of the rule of law. At the end of the hearing, the 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance of Istanbul ruled to dismiss the case on the grounds that “sadly,” the four-month statute of limitations to file a court case as per Article 26/1 of Turkey’s press law was exceeded. Source: https://expressioninterrupted.com/pelin-unker/ 30 January 2020: Pelin Ünker and Orhan Erinç’s trial adjourned The fourth hearing in a compensation case against journalist Pelin Ünker and the former Executive Board Chairman of the Cumhuriyet Foundation Orhan Erinç over two news reports published in Cumhuriyet daily about the Paradise Papers leaks, took place at Istanbul’s 21st Civil Court of First Instance on 30 January 2020. Çalık Holding is seeking TL 10,000 in compensation in the lawsuit. P24 monitored the hearing. Neither Erinç nor Ünker were in attendance in the courtroom. Ünker’s lawyer Abbas Yalçın and Çalık Holding’s lawyer Gözde Güzin Erol were present. Announcing the information added to the file since the last hearing, judge Türkan Gürpınar informed that the request for the socio-economic status of the two parties to be examined had been rejected. The judge said the court had also received the file of Ünker’s trial on the charge of “insulting a public official” over the same articles. That case had been dismissed by the Istanbul 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance on 28 March 2019. Çalık Holding’s lawyer said they appealed the dismissal verdict. Erol also argued the case did not fall within the scope of press freedom. Ünker and Erinç’s lawyer Yalçın asked the court to wait for the outcome of the appeal. Ruling to write a memo to Istanbul’s 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance to inquire about whether their verdict has become final, the court adjourned the trial until 28 April 2020. 1 October 2019: Compensation case against journalist Pelin Ünker adjourned until January A compensation case against journalist Pelin Ünker, in which Çalık Holding is seeking TL 10,000 in damages for Ünker’s coverage of the Paradise Papers leaks for Cumhuriyet daily, resumed on 1 October 2019 at Istanbul’s 21st Civil Court of First Instance. This was the third hearing in the lawsuit. Halil Kocabaş, the lawyer representing the defendants Ünker and Orhan Erinç, the former chairman of Cumhuriyet Foundation’s executive board, told the court that a previous case filed against Ünker over the same article series was dismissed by the 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance of Istanbul and is currently being reviewed by an appellate court. The court decided to review the case file that was dismissed by Istanbul 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance and adjourned the lawsuit until 30 January 2020. 28 March 2019: Turkish court drops case against journalist who reported on Paradise Papers A Turkish court on Thursday dropped a case against journalist Pelin Ünker for allegedly defaming Turkey’s Finance Minister Berat Albayrak and his brother Serhat Albayrak in her reporting on an alleged tax evasion scheme, the Medyascope news website reported. Although the prosecutor demanded one to four years for Ünker, the court dismissed the case due to the expiration of the statute of limitations.Ünker’s reports on Paradise Papers tax evasion scheme documents, which were revealed by several international newspapers, were published in November 2017 in the Cumhuriyet daily. According to her reports, the Albayrak brothers established offshore bank accounts in Malta for the purpose of tax evasion when they were executives at Çalık Holding. Former Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım and his sons had previously filed a criminal complaint against the Paradise Papers reports, and another court gave Ünker 13 months in prison, a decision that she has appealed at a higher court. According to Medyascope, Ünker is the only journalist who was prosecuted for reporting on the Paradise Papers documents. 18 March 2019: Turkish reporter included on list of journalists under attack The One Free Press Coalition, an initiative established during a meeting of the International Media Council at the recent World Economic Forum, has included Turkish reporter Pelin Ünker in its monthly list of “10 Most Urgent” journalists under attack or silenced, the Ahval news website reported, citing a Forbes report published Friday. “Pelin Unker wrote a piece as part of the Paradise Papers corruption investigation in 2017, revealing offshore holdings of the family of then-Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım. As retribution, authorities charged and sentenced her to 13 months for insulting the prime minister,” the coalition said. In November 2017 Ünker reported in the Cumhuriyet daily that Yıldırım’s two sons were the main beneficiaries of five shipping companies registered in Malta for tax optimization purposes. The family did not deny the report but brought a suit against the newspaper, citing its attempt to “create a false and partial perception by public opinion.” “I did my duty as a journalist. The story was about public figures. I did my job in sharing the incident with the public. He was given the right to respond. I don’t think the story I did constitutes a crime,’’ Ünker said after a Turkish court sentenced her to 13 months in prison in January. Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist who was assassinated inside the Saudi Consulate General in Istanbul on Oct. 2, is also among the 10 journalists included in the list. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) ranked Turkey 157th among 180 countries on the 2018 World Free Press Index, describing Turkey as “the world’s biggest prison for professional journalists. (turkishminute.com) 21 February 2019: Court accepts Çalık’s motion in Paradise Papers case Journalist Pelin Ünker on 21 February appeared in an Istanbul court for the third hearing of a lawsuit where she is accused of “libel and insult” on account of two news stories she penned for Cumhuriyet daily in November 2017 about the “Paradise Papers” leaks. The case, filed upon complaints by Minister Berat Albayrak and his brother, Serhat Albayrak, is overseen by the 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance of Istanbul. P24 monitored the hearing, where Ünker, her lawyers and the lawyers representing the plaintiffs were in attendance. Addressing the court for her defense statement, Ünker explained that 126 politicians’ names appeared in the Paradise Papers leaks, adding that only two politicians filed lawsuits against news coverage of the leaks and that both politicians were from Turkey. Noting that her articles did not include any expressions that could amount to insult or libel, Ünker told the court that the stories also included the statements given by the politicians concerning the leaks and that the newspaper also published the rebuttals to the news stories. Addressing the court following Ünker, her lawyer Tora Pekin said they would not be making a further defense statement. Instead, the lawyer asserted that the case should be dropped based on the statute of limitations in Turkey’s press law. In its interim ruling at the end of the hearing, the court accepted a motion for participation in the case filed by businessman Ahmet Çalık and adjourned the trial until 28 March, saying it would rule on the defense lawyers’ request for the dismissal of the case in the next hearing. 18 February 2019: Journalist Ünker Sentenced to Prison for 'Creating an Impression of Tax Evasion' The reasoned decision for the sentence given to journalist Ünker for reporting on former PM Yıldırım's offshore companies has been announced. It concludes that Ünker committed an offense by "creating the perception of tax evasion." The reasoned decision for the prison sentence and the fine given to journalist Pelin Ünker has been announced. Ünker was sentenced for reporting on then-Prime Minister, Binali Yıldırım's and his sons' offshore companies in Malta, which were revealed in the Paradise Papers in 2017. CLICK - Journalist Pelin Ünker Sentenced to Prison for Paradise Papers Stories The İstanbul 2nd Penal Court of First Instance concluded that the former Cumhuriyet reporter committed the offenses of "insult" and "defamation," by telling in her stories, "Binali Yıldırım's sons Erkam and Bülent Yıldırım committed a crime by founding companies abroad just because not to pay tax; and getting tenders through these companies by taking advantage of the privilege of being the Prime Minister's sons." RSF Turkey Representative: Sentences are clearly unproportional Turkey Representative of the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) Erol Önderoğlu spoke to bianet on the reasoned decision: "Journalist Pelin Ünker being sentenced to both prison and to pay a fine is apparently a first in the world in terms of the enforcement against reports on the Paradise Papers. "Our opinion is that the sentences are clearly unproportional in the first place. While the reasoned decision absolutely supports the presumption of innocence of the Yıldırım Family, it neglects the legitimacy of discussing many topics such as a prime minister's family's relations with offshore companies or the relation between trade and politics for the public good. At the end, verdicts like this serve intimidation purposes. "Moreover, the news article titled 'The Head of the Government Escapes From Tax' does not even belong to Ünker." Court "evaluated the series of articles as a whole" The reasoned decision said the following in brief: "The stories titled 'There is a Lie But...' and 'Not Domestic and National' on copies of the Cumhuriyet newspaper dated November 6, 2017 and November 8, 2017, put forward the Paradise Paper documents related to Binali Yıldırım, Erkam Yıldırım and Bülent Yıldırım. "In the trial on the allegations of insulting Binali Yıldırım and his sons, the series of articles has been evaluated by our court as a whole. "In the stories, it was said that Binali Yıldırım's sons Erkam and Bülent Yıldırım committed a crime by founding multiple companies abroad to not pay tax, and getting tenders through these companies by taking advantage of the privilege of being the Prime Minister's sons." "Stories tried to create a perception" "With these stories, by giving an impression to the public that Binali Yıldırım and his sons are deceiving the people, a perception was tried to be created. "Although the defendant and the defender reject the accusations and say that they reported on the Paradise Papers, which was on the news worldwide and that these are new documents which interest the public and that there is not an element of defamation in the stories, when the articles were evaluated as a whole, the following opinion has been reached: "By reaching the conscientious and legal opinion that it was not just making a news report out of these documents, but it was trying to create a perception by stating that Binali Yıldırım and his sons acted on the purpose of tax evasion and made unearned gains by exploiting loopholes in the laws and that Binali Yıldırım made the unjust enrichment continue by not changing the legal regulation, the court ruled that Pelin Ünker shall be sentenced because of her act upon the related articles." Source: http://m.bianet.org/english/media/205563- journalist-unker-sentenced-to-prison-for-creating- an-impression-of-tax-evasion 16 January 2019 U.S. group calls for acquittal of Turkish journalist, condemns jail sentence Turkey’s sentencing of reporter Pelin Ünker to 13 months in prison on charges of insulting a former prime minister marks a “brazen assault” on journalism, free speech advocate PEN America said on Tuesday. Ünker reported on tax evasion within Malta companies owned by Binali Yıldırım, former prime minister and current speaker of Turkish parliament, and his sons, as part of the Paradise Papers coverage in Turkish daily Cumhuriyet. She was convicted in November 2017 and sentenced last week to 13 months in prison and a fine of 8,660 Turkish lira ($1610). Ünker was not taken into custody as her lawyers are set to file an appeal. “Pelin Ünker’s conviction and sentencing is a travesty, and represents yet another blow to the ability of Turkish investigative journalists to work freely,” said Karin Deutsch Karlekar, director of PEN America’s Free Expression at Risk program. “We condemn the decision, call for her acquittal on appeal, and stand by Ünker and other courageous journalists who continue to uncover corruption and other types of malfeasance in the public interest, despite the widespread climate of fear in Turkey.” Yıldırım also filed a civil lawsuit for defamation, claiming 500,000 liras ($92,412) in damages. That trial could come in a few months, after the criminal court makes its decision on Ünker’s appeal. “There is no journalistic activity in those articles, but defamation,” Yıldırım said on Jan. 10, referring to Ünker’s reporting. “Remaining silent would be endorsing those allegations.” The European Parliament last week urged the European Commission to officially condemn Turkey for Ünker’s conviction and sentencing. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) ranked Turkey 157th among 180 countries on the 2018 World Free Press Index. A government crackdown on media that began before the 2016 failed coup, intensified in its aftermath, with Ankara shutting down more than 175 news outlets, putting thousands of journalists out of work. “There are more than 100 writers, journalists, and media workers in prison, making Turkey the country with the highest number of imprisoned journalists in the world,” wrote PEN America. “Freedom of expression and of the press has virtually disappeared in Turkey.” Source 8 January 2019: Turkish journalist sentenced to prison over ‘Paradise Papers’ leak A Turkish court sentenced investigative journalist Pelin Ünker to one year and 15 months in prison in addition to a 8860 lira ($1,615) fine over her articles detailing large transactions in overseas tax havens conducted by former Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım’s sons, independent new site T24 reported. Referred to as the ‘’Paradise Papers’’ data leak, the reports covering the Yıldırım’s sons’ stake in offshore shipping companies, landed Cumhuriyet reporter Ünker in legal hot water with the former prime minister’s family in July 2018. In November 2017, Cumhuriyet reported that Yıldırım’s two sons were the main beneficiaries of five shipping companies registered in Malta for tax optimisation purposes. The family did not deny the report, but brought a suit against the newspaper, citing its attempt to “create a false and partial perception by public opinion.” "I did my duty as a journalist. The story was about public figures. I did my job in sharing the incident with the public. He was given the right to respond. I don't think the story I did constitutes a crime,’’ Ünker has said regarding the charges levelled at her. Ünker and her lawyers are preparing to take the case to an appeals court, T24 said. 30 December 2018: Another “Paradise Papers” case against Ünker gets underway Journalist Pelin Ünker on 27 December appeared before an Istanbul court for the first hearing of a case where she is accused of “insulting a public official” in her coverage of the “Paradise Papers” leaks, published in 2017 in the Cumhuriyet daily. The case was filed by Speaker of the Parliament — AKP’s nominee for Mayor of Istanbul in the upcoming local elections and former Prime Minister —Binali Yıldırım’s lawyers, who also sued the journalist for “violating the personal rights” of the Yıldırım family in the same news reports, seeking TL 500,000 in non-pecuniary damages. That lawsuit is now on hold, awaiting the outcome of this case. Binali Yıldırım’s two sons as well as his nephew were reportedly associated with at least five companies mentioned in the “Paradise Papers” leaks, a set of 13.4 million leaked confidential electronic documents relating to offshore investments by around 120 high-profile names from around the world. P24 monitored Thursday’s hearing at the Anadolu 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance. Ünker and her lawyer Abbas Yalçın and the plaintiffs’ lawyer Muhammed Gök were in attendance. At the start of the hearing, Ünker’s lawyer requested that this case be merged with the other lawsuit against Ünker, which the court rejected. The lawyer then requested a continuance in order for Ünker to prepare her defense statement, which the judge also rejected and said Ünker should make her defense statement during this hearing. Ünker then began her defense statement, in which she explained that the news reports for which she was accused were not only about Binali Yıldırım and his sons but that numerous well-known figures were also mentioned in both stories. Ünker continued: “The stories also mentioned Binali Yıldırım’s uncle and nephew, however, no complaints were filed concerning these people. Binali Yıldırım did not deny the existence of the said companies in the statement he issued after the news broke. On the contrary, he said these kinds of trade relations were not unusual. The news stories did not claim the said offshore companies were illegal businesses; they said these companies were avoiding paying taxes through the loopholes in legislation. The news stories did not say this was a crime; they questioned how ethical it was.” Adding that her stories did not include any insulting expressions, Ünker also told the court that she sent seven questions to Yıldırım’s lawyers concerning the leaks two weeks before the publication of the story, but that she never got a response. Addressing the court following Ünker, her lawyer told the court that the newspaper published Binali Yıldırım’s statement concerning the leaks in its entirety and that it also ran his rebuttal. The lawyer added that the headline of a related story in the newspaper which read, “Head of the government avoiding tax,” was not Ünker’s statement but a remark by a main opposition CHP MP. Addressing the court following Ünker’s lawyer Yalçın, the plaintiffs’ lawyer Muhammed Gök said the headlines of the news stories “gave the impression that the then-prime minister was involved in [tax evasion].” Gök said that they did not respond to the questions Ünker sent because they “were irrelevant with the news.” “They were incriminating and biased questions. We did not have to respond,” Gök said. In response to the plaintiffs’ lawyer, Ünker said the phrase “Head of the government avoiding tax” had not appeared in any part of her stories and that it had been the headline of another story published in the newspaper. She also explained that the questions she had sent to Yıldırım were not aimed at incriminating the politician but at seeking for information. Issuing an interim ruling at the end of the hearing, the judge adjourned the case until 8 January 2019 for the final defense statement to be prepared. Source 22 November 2018: Pelin Ünker appears in court for second “Paradise Papers” lawsuit Journalist Pelin Ünker on 22 November appeared before an Istanbul court for a lawsuit where she is accused of “libel” on account of two news stories she penned for Cumhuriyet daily about the “Paradise Papers” leaks. The case, filed upon complaints by Minister Berat Albayrak and his brother, Serhat Albayrak, is overseen by the 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance of Istanbul. Ünker, her lawyers and lawyers representing the plaintiffs were in attendance at the hearing. Ünker’s lawyer Tora Pekin requested that the files of two separate cases against Ünker before the same court where the accusations stem from the same articles be merged. Pekin requested that Ünker give her defense statement after the merging of the files. In its interim ruling at the end of the hearing, the court ruled to review the two files against Ünker to examine the legal and de facto connection between the two, and adjourned the trial until 21 February 2019. 5 November 2018: Turkish PM and sons file lawsuit against journalist over Paradise Papers reports Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım and his sons have filed a lawsuit against a journalist for her investigation into offshore tax havens, independent news site T24 reported. The lawsuit is a follow up to a defamation action filed in July by Yildirim, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s son-in-law and Minister of Finance and Treasury Berat Albayrak, and members of their families against investigative journalist Pelin Ünker and her newspaper Cumhuriyet for their coverage of Paradise Papers. An international network of over 380 journalists combed over the 13.4 million documents from tax havens leaked to German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung in the so-called “Paradise Papers” in 2017, exposing the activities of powerful individuals and companies in these areas. Ünker’s investigative report covering the papers focused on non-transparent transactions by powerful individuals close to the Turkish president, suggesting tax avoidance by these individuals, includingYıldırım, whose sons, Erkam and Bülent Yıldırım, were shown to be shareholders in five offshore companies in Malta. Yıldırm and his sons’ earlier this year demanded Ünker pay 500,000 liras for the infringement of their personal rights; the court has yet to deliver a verdict on the matter. ‘’We were expecting this, but I don’t know why they filed a defamation suit before filing a [seperate] lawsuit,’’ Ünker said. The first hearing for the case is set to take place in İstanbul on Dec. 27. Source 1 October 2018: Two more journalists part ways with Cumhuriyet Canan Coşkun, a legal affairs reporter facing years in prison for a report on Turkish judicial officials, and finance editor and reporter Pelin Ünker are the latest in a wave of journalists parting ways with secularist daily Cumhuriyet since it restructured its editorial staff in September. Coşkun announced her break with Cumhuriyet on Twitter, saying she would remember the newspaper fondly. The legal affairs reporter was hit with a sentence of 2 years and 3 months for “targeting officials involved in the fight against terrorism” after she reported that a lottery to select homebuyers for a coveted project in Istanbul had been rigged in favour of members of the judiciary. Ünker has also run into legal trouble for her part in reporting on large transactions in overseas tax havens conducted by former Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım’s sons, as revealed in the Paradise Papers data leak. The pair have followed dozens of other renowned journalists who have parted ways with the newspaper after it announced a new editorial board headed by controversial figures including Alev Coşkun, who was alleged to have sent anonymous denunciations to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan which were used as evidence in trials against Cumhuriyet staff. Fifteen staff members of the newspaper, including former editor-in-chief Murat Sabuncu, were given long prison sentences in April for allegedly supporting the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a militant Kurdish group, and the Gülen movement, a religious organisation blamed for plotting the July 2016 coup attempt. Both groups are designated as terrorist organisations by Turkey. Source 6 September 2018: “Paradise Papers” case against Pelin Ünker adjourned Cumhuriyet daily’s finance desk editor Pelin Ünker appeared before an Istanbul court on 6 September for the third hearing of a lawsuit filed by former Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım and his sons. Yıldırım and his sons are seeking TL 500,000 in non-pecuniary damages in the lawsuit, claiming that two reports published in Cumhuriyet concerning the “Paradise Papers” leaks “violated their personal rights.” P24 monitored the hearing at the Anadolu 24th Civil Court of First Instance, where Ünker and her lawyer Abbas Yalçın attended. Yıldırım and his sons were represented by lawyer Muhammed Gök. The plaintiffs’ lawyer submitted to the court documents relating to another criminal case filed with the Anadolu 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance against Ünker on grounds of the same coverage on the charge of “insulting a public official,” which the said court ruled non-jurisdiction. Defense lawyer Yalçın said they had no knowledge of any ongoing additional criminal proceedings or investigations against them, but that in such an event, all legal proceedings relating to the same coverage should be merged in a single file. The judge then adjourned the trial indefinitely, saying that since this was a non-pecuniary compensation case, and since it had become evident that other lawsuits and investigations in relation to the same coverage were under way, the court would await the conclusion of those criminal proceedings and would resume the trial afterwards. No date has been set for the next hearing. 17 July 2018: “Paradise Papers” case against Cumhuriyet journalists adjourned Cumhuriyet daily’s finance desk editor Pelin Ünker appeared before an Istanbul court on 17 July for the second hearing of a lawsuit filed by former Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım and his sons. Yıldırım and his sons are seeking TL 500,000 in non-pecuniary damages in the lawsuit, claiming that two reports published in Cumhuriyet concerning the “Paradise Papers” leaks “violated their personal rights.” P24 monitored the hearing at the Anadolu 24th Civil Court of First Instance, where Ünker and her lawyer Abbas Yalçın attended. Yıldırım and his sons were represented by lawyer Tuba Kılıç. Kılıç reiterated the plaintiffs’ claims during the hearing. Yalçın said the defense statement in response to the allegations would be submitted in written form, as is the rule in such lawsuits, and the judge postponed the trial until 6 September. Ünker is standing trial alongside Cumhuriyet Foundation Executive Board Chairman Orhan Erinç in the case. 21 June 2018: Ahmet Altan, Pelin Ünker, Perihan Mağden trials adjourned One of the numerous trials against imprisoned novelist and journalist Ahmet Altan on the charge of “insulting the president,” set for June 21 at the Istanbul 30th Criminal Court of First Instance, was postponed because the judge was on leave. The case is based on an article by Altan titled “The New Ergenekon”, which was posted on the P24 website on May 8, 2016. The case was postponed until December 21, 2018. Pelin Ünker, the finance desk editor for Cumhuriyet daily, was also set to appear before a court on June 21 for the first hearing of a trial against her on account of a news story about “Paradise Papers.” The case was filed by Energy Minister Berat Albayrak, his brother Serhat Albayrak, and businessman Ahmet Çalık on grounds of Ünker’s November 2017 story. The case, which was initially rejected but was reopened after the Albayraks and Çalık objected, was postponed to a later date because the judge of the 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance of Istanbul was on leave on June 21.

The new Turkey
Pelin Ünker
The finance desk editor for Cumhuriyet daily

Last update: 26-Apr-2020 11:07

Pelin Ünker

Journalist Pelin Ünker was hit with three separate lawsuits over her article series published in Cumhuriyet daily in November 2017 about the “Paradise Papers” leaks, a set of confidential documents revealing the investments of high profile names in offshore tax havens.

Lawsuit filed by Binali Yıldırım and his sons

Ünker first appeared before court on 17 July 2018 at the Anadolu 24th Civil Court of First Instance for the first hearing of a lawsuit filed by former Prime Minister and former Speaker of the Parliament and AKP’s nominee for Mayor of Istanbul in the 2019 local elections Binali Yıldırım and his sons against her and the former Executive Board Chairman of the Cumhuriyet Foundation Orhan Erinç.

Yıldırım and his sons, Erkam and Bülent Yıldırım, were seeking TL 500,000 in non-pecuniary damages claiming that Ünker’s two reports on Yıldırım’s sons owning shares in at least five companies located in Malta “violated their personal rights.”

The judge postponed the trial until 6 September 2018 to allow time for the defense statement in response to the allegations to be submitted in written form.

At the second hearing held on 6 September 2018, Yıldırım’s lawyer Muhammed Gök submitted to court documents relating to another criminal case filed with the Anadolu 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance against Ünker over the same coverage on the charge of “insulting a public official.” Gök said that in that case the court had ruled non-jurisdiction.

Ünker’s lawyer Yalçın told court that they were not aware of any additional ongoing criminal proceedings or investigations against his client, but that in such an event, all legal proceedings relating to the same coverage should be merged in a single file.

The judge then adjourned the trial indefinitely, since this was a non-pecuniary compensation case, and since it had become evident that other lawsuits and investigations in relation to the same coverage were under way, the court would await the conclusion of those criminal proceedings and would resume the trial afterwards.

Yıldırım’s “insult” case

In November 2018 another lawsuit was filed against Ünker by the lawyers representing the Yıldırıms, this time on the charge of “insulting a public official.”

Ünker appeared before the Istanbul 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance on 27 December 2018 for the case’s first hearing.

In her defense statement, Ünker explained that the news reports for which she was accused were not only about Binali Yıldırım and his sons but that numerous well-known figures were also mentioned in both stories.

Ünker continued: “The stories also mentioned Binali Yıldırım’s uncle and nephew, however, no complaints were filed concerning these people. Binali Yıldırım did not deny the existence of the said companies in the statement he issued after the news broke. On the contrary, he said these kinds of trade relations were not unusual. The news stories did not claim the said offshore companies were illegal businesses; they said these companies were avoiding paying taxes through loopholes in legislation. The news stories did not say this was a crime; they questioned how ethical it was.”

Adding that her stories did not include any insulting expressions, Ünker also told the court that she sent seven questions to Yıldırım’s lawyers concerning the leaks two weeks before the publication of the story, but that she never got a response.

Addressing the court following Ünker, her lawyer told the court that the newspaper published Binali Yıldırım’s statement concerning the leaks in its entirety and that it also ran his rebuttal. The lawyer added that the headline of a related story in the newspaper which read, “Devletin başı vergiden kaçıyor” (Head of the government avoiding tax) was not Ünker’s statement but a remark by a main opposition CHP lawmaker.

Addressing the court following Ünker’s lawyer Abbas Yalçın, the plaintiffs’ lawyer Gök said the headlines of the news stories “gave the impression that the then-prime minister was involved in [tax evasion].”

Gök told court that they did not respond to the questions Ünker sent because they “were irrelevant with the news.” “They were incriminating and biased questions. We did not have to respond,” Gök said.

In response to the plaintiffs’ lawyer, Ünker said the phrase “Head of the government avoiding tax” had not appeared in any part of her stories and that it had been the headline of another story published in the newspaper. She also explained that the questions she had sent to Yıldırım were not aimed at incriminating the politician but at seeking for information.

Issuing an interim ruling at the end of the hearing, the judge adjourned the case until 8 January 2019 for the final defense statement to be prepared.

At the second hearing that took place on 8 January 2019, Ünker and her lawyers strongly denied both accusations and said a conviction would amount to an unacceptable intervention to freedom of the press. Ünker’s lawyer Tora Pekin noted that the documents were published by numerous prestigious newspapers across the world. The documents had first been leaked to the Munich-based Süddeutsche Zeitung daily newspaper.

“Among all the countries claiming to be a democracy, only Turkey pressed criminal charges against a journalist covering the leaks,” Pekin said.

Pekin also said that the reporting did not harm Yıldırım’s political career, given he was elected Speaker of the Parliament after the July 2018 elections and was at the time running for mayor of Istanbul from the ranks of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP)..

Pekin added: “The news reports are true. Owning offshore companies is not a crime. But these being owned by the sons of the prime minister is an ethical issue. Hence, the reports have a news value.” The Yıldırım family wanted to set an example by obtaining a sentence against Ünker, Pekin said. “They want the person who did these reports to receive a prison sentence, so they don’t have to deal with these kinds of news reports anymore. Such a ruling would be unlawful.”

He cited many rulings by the European Court of Human Rights which guaranteed freedom of the press and the right of journalists to criticize politicians. The lawyer added: “Publishing these news reports so that the public forms an opinion on the matter is an obligation and cannot be prevented on any grounds.”

Ünker’s lawyers also reiterated that none of the reports stated that owning an offshore company was illegal.

The complaint filed by Yıldırım’s lawyers contained news reports that weren’t written by Ünker and weren’t part of the “Paradise Papers” coverage, lawyer Abbas Yalçın said.

He repeated that the story which read “Head of the government avoiding tax” was not Ünker’s statement but a comment made by opposition MP Murat Emir. “You cannot hold Ünker responsible for reports she didn’t write,” Yalçın said.

Yıldırım’s lawyer Muhammed Gök then asked the court to convict Ünker as the news stories had created “a negative perception” about Yıldırım. “My client’s personal rights have been violated. He was insulted and libeled. We want her to be sentenced,” he said.

Following a short deliberation, the judge found Ünker guilty of both libel and insult, sentencing her to 13.5 months in prison and fining the journalist TL 8,660 in non-pecuniary damages. The judge opted to not defer the sentence on the grounds that Ünker might commit the same crime — publish investigative journalism reports — again.

After the 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance of Istanbul sentenced and fined Ünker in January, on 28 February the Anadolu 24th Civil Court of First Instance went on to issue its verdict in the compensation case that was put on hold without waiting for a higher court’s review of the verdict rendered by the criminal court of first instance. The court found journalists Pelin Ünker and Orhan Erinç guilty and ordered they pay the Yıldırım’s a sum of TL 30,000 in compensation.

On 19 April 2019 an appellate court noted in its ruling, that the news story in question was published on 6 November 2017; the investigation into Ünker upon the complaint of Bülent and Erkam Yıldırım was launched on 16 November; the indictment was submitted on 31 August 2018 and the trial process began after the indictment was accepted by the court on 3 September 2018.

The court ruled for the conviction against Ünker in the case filed by Bülent and Erkam Yıldırım to be dropped on the grounds that the prosecution unlawfully proceeded with the case and Ünker was convicted even though the four-month statute of limitations for pressing charges as per Article 26/1 of Turkey’s press law had expired.

The appellate court upheld the legal fine Ünker was given on the charge of “insulting a public official.” However, it ruled that the compensation Ünker was ordered to pay should be TL 7,080 instead of TL 8,660.

Albayrak complaint

Ünker faced yet another criminal case for her coverage of the “Paradise Papers” leaks, this time launched upon complaints by the Albayrak brothers. The accusation was based on the news stories headlined “Off-Shore Kardeşler: Kayıtlardan damat bakan Albayrak ile kardeşi de çıktı” (Offshore brothers: Names of presidential son-in-law Minister Albayrak and his brother come up in leaked documents) and “Enerji Bakanı Albayrak ve kardeşi de bir dönem Malta’yı tercih etmiş” (Energy Minister Albayrak and his brother chose Malta as well), also published in Cumhuriyet in November 2017.

The indictment accused Ünker of “manipulating public opinion by way of writing about acts such as tax avoidance, tax evasion, [etc.], which could result in those acts being attributed to the plaintiffs” and claimed that “the attribution of these acts is beyond the scope of freedom of the press.”

Addressing the 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance of Istanbul during the second hearing of this case on 21 February 2019, Ünker said that the “Paradise Papers” leaks concerned politicians and businesspeople from 47 countries and that only two of the politicians whose names appeared in the leaks filed lawsuits against journalists — and both those politicians were from Turkey.

During the final hearing of the case on 28 March 2019, Ünker’s lawyers referred to Sarı’s recent acquittal in a case with similar facts and asserted that two courts rendering contrasting verdicts (acquittal and conviction) in two cases with similar facts would be in breach of the rule of law.

At the end of the hearing, the 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance of Istanbul ruled to dismiss the case on the grounds that “sadly,” the four-month statute of limitations to file a court case as per Article 26/1 of Turkey’s press law was exceeded.

Source: https://expressioninterrupted.com/pelin-unker/

30 January 2020:

Pelin Ünker and Orhan Erinç’s trial adjourned

The fourth hearing in a compensation case against journalist Pelin Ünker and the former Executive Board Chairman of the Cumhuriyet Foundation Orhan Erinç over two news reports published in Cumhuriyet daily about the Paradise Papers leaks, took place at Istanbul’s 21st Civil Court of First Instance on 30 January 2020. Çalık Holding is seeking TL 10,000 in compensation in the lawsuit.

P24 monitored the hearing. Neither Erinç nor Ünker were in attendance in the courtroom. Ünker’s lawyer Abbas Yalçın and Çalık Holding’s lawyer Gözde Güzin Erol were present.

Announcing the information added to the file since the last hearing, judge Türkan Gürpınar informed that the request for the socio-economic status of the two parties to be examined had been rejected. The judge said the court had also received the file of Ünker’s trial on the charge of “insulting a public official” over the same articles. That case had been dismissed by the Istanbul 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance on 28 March 2019.

Çalık Holding’s lawyer said they appealed the dismissal verdict. Erol also argued the case did not fall within the scope of press freedom. Ünker and Erinç’s lawyer Yalçın asked the court to wait for the outcome of the appeal. Ruling to write a memo to Istanbul’s 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance to inquire about whether their verdict has become final, the court adjourned the trial until 28 April 2020.

1 October 2019:

Compensation case against journalist Pelin Ünker adjourned until January
A compensation case against journalist Pelin Ünker, in which Çalık Holding is seeking TL 10,000 in damages for Ünker’s coverage of the Paradise Papers leaks for Cumhuriyet daily, resumed on 1 October 2019 at Istanbul’s 21st Civil Court of First Instance.

This was the third hearing in the lawsuit. Halil Kocabaş, the lawyer representing the defendants Ünker and Orhan Erinç, the former chairman of Cumhuriyet Foundation’s executive board, told the court that a previous case filed against Ünker over the same article series was dismissed by the 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance of Istanbul and is currently being reviewed by an appellate court.

The court decided to review the case file that was dismissed by Istanbul 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance and adjourned the lawsuit until 30 January 2020.

28 March 2019:

Turkish court drops case against journalist who reported on Paradise Papers

A Turkish court on Thursday dropped a case against journalist Pelin Ünker for allegedly defaming Turkey’s Finance Minister Berat Albayrak and his brother Serhat Albayrak in her reporting on an alleged tax evasion scheme, the Medyascope news website reported.

Although the prosecutor demanded one to four years for Ünker, the court dismissed the case due to the expiration of the statute of limitations.Ünker’s reports on Paradise Papers tax evasion scheme documents, which were revealed by several international newspapers, were published in November 2017 in the Cumhuriyet daily.

According to her reports, the Albayrak brothers established offshore bank accounts in Malta for the purpose of tax evasion when they were executives at Çalık Holding. Former Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım and his sons had previously filed a criminal complaint against the Paradise Papers reports, and another court gave Ünker 13 months in prison, a decision that she has appealed at a higher court.

According to Medyascope, Ünker is the only journalist who was prosecuted for reporting on the Paradise Papers documents.

18 March 2019:

Turkish reporter included on list of journalists under attack

The One Free Press Coalition, an initiative established during a meeting of the International Media Council at the recent World Economic Forum, has included Turkish reporter Pelin Ünker in its monthly list of “10 Most Urgent” journalists under attack or silenced, the Ahval news website reported, citing a Forbes report published Friday.

“Pelin Unker wrote a piece as part of the Paradise Papers corruption investigation in 2017, revealing offshore holdings of the family of then-Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım. As retribution, authorities charged and sentenced her to 13 months for insulting the prime minister,” the coalition said.

In November 2017 Ünker reported in the Cumhuriyet daily that Yıldırım’s two sons were the main beneficiaries of five shipping companies registered in Malta for tax optimization purposes. The family did not deny the report but brought a suit against the newspaper, citing its attempt to “create a false and partial perception by public opinion.”

“I did my duty as a journalist. The story was about public figures. I did my job in sharing the incident with the public. He was given the right to respond. I don’t think the story I did constitutes a crime,’’ Ünker said after a Turkish court sentenced her to 13 months in prison in January. Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist who was assassinated inside the Saudi Consulate General in Istanbul on Oct. 2, is also among the 10 journalists included in the list.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) ranked Turkey 157th among 180 countries on the 2018 World Free Press Index, describing Turkey as “the world’s biggest prison for professional journalists. (turkishminute.com)

21 February 2019:

Court accepts Çalık’s motion in Paradise Papers case

Journalist Pelin Ünker on 21 February appeared in an Istanbul court for the third hearing of a lawsuit where she is accused of “libel and insult” on account of two news stories she penned for Cumhuriyet daily in November 2017 about the “Paradise Papers” leaks. The case, filed upon complaints by Minister Berat Albayrak and his brother, Serhat Albayrak, is overseen by the 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance of Istanbul.

P24 monitored the hearing, where Ünker, her lawyers and the lawyers representing the plaintiffs were in attendance.

Addressing the court for her defense statement, Ünker explained that 126 politicians’ names appeared in the Paradise Papers leaks, adding that only two politicians filed lawsuits against news coverage of the leaks and that both politicians were from Turkey. Noting that her articles did not include any expressions that could amount to insult or libel, Ünker told the court that the stories also included the statements given by the politicians concerning the leaks and that the newspaper also published the rebuttals to the news stories.

Addressing the court following Ünker, her lawyer Tora Pekin said they would not be making a further defense statement. Instead, the lawyer asserted that the case should be dropped based on the statute of limitations in Turkey’s press law.

In its interim ruling at the end of the hearing, the court accepted a motion for participation in the case filed by businessman Ahmet Çalık and adjourned the trial until 28 March, saying it would rule on the defense lawyers’ request for the dismissal of the case in the next hearing.

18 February 2019:

Journalist Ünker Sentenced to Prison for 'Creating an Impression of Tax Evasion'

The reasoned decision for the sentence given to journalist Ünker for reporting on former PM Yıldırım's offshore companies has been announced. It concludes that Ünker committed an offense by "creating the perception of tax evasion."

The reasoned decision for the prison sentence and the fine given to journalist Pelin Ünker has been announced. Ünker was sentenced for reporting on then-Prime Minister, Binali Yıldırım's and his sons' offshore companies in Malta, which were revealed in the Paradise Papers in 2017.

CLICK - Journalist Pelin Ünker Sentenced to Prison for Paradise Papers Stories

The İstanbul 2nd Penal Court of First Instance concluded that the former Cumhuriyet reporter committed the offenses of "insult" and "defamation," by telling in her stories, "Binali Yıldırım's sons Erkam and Bülent Yıldırım committed a crime by founding companies abroad just because not to pay tax; and getting tenders through these companies by taking advantage of the privilege of being the Prime Minister's sons."

RSF Turkey Representative: Sentences are clearly unproportional

Turkey Representative of the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) Erol Önderoğlu spoke to bianet on the reasoned decision:

"Journalist Pelin Ünker being sentenced to both prison and to pay a fine is apparently a first in the world in terms of the enforcement against reports on the Paradise Papers.

"Our opinion is that the sentences are clearly unproportional in the first place. While the reasoned decision absolutely supports the presumption of innocence of the Yıldırım Family, it neglects the legitimacy of discussing many topics such as a prime minister's family's relations with offshore companies or the relation between trade and politics for the public good. At the end, verdicts like this serve intimidation purposes.

"Moreover, the news article titled 'The Head of the Government Escapes From Tax' does not even belong to Ünker."

Court "evaluated the series of articles as a whole"

The reasoned decision said the following in brief:

"The stories titled 'There is a Lie But...' and 'Not Domestic and National' on copies of the Cumhuriyet newspaper dated November 6, 2017 and November 8, 2017, put forward the Paradise Paper documents related to Binali Yıldırım, Erkam Yıldırım and Bülent Yıldırım.

"In the trial on the allegations of insulting Binali Yıldırım and his sons, the series of articles has been evaluated by our court as a whole.

"In the stories, it was said that Binali Yıldırım's sons Erkam and Bülent Yıldırım committed a crime by founding multiple companies abroad to not pay tax, and getting tenders through these companies by taking advantage of the privilege of being the Prime Minister's sons."

"Stories tried to create a perception"

"With these stories, by giving an impression to the public that Binali Yıldırım and his sons are deceiving the people, a perception was tried to be created.

"Although the defendant and the defender reject the accusations and say that they reported on the Paradise Papers, which was on the news worldwide and that these are new documents which interest the public and that there is not an element of defamation in the stories, when the articles were evaluated as a whole, the following opinion has been reached:

"By reaching the conscientious and legal opinion that it was not just making a news report out of these documents, but it was trying to create a perception by stating that Binali Yıldırım and his sons acted on the purpose of tax evasion and made unearned gains by exploiting loopholes in the laws and that Binali Yıldırım made the unjust enrichment continue by not changing the legal regulation, the court ruled that Pelin Ünker shall be sentenced because of her act upon the related articles."

Source: http://m.bianet.org/english/media/205563-
journalist-unker-sentenced-to-prison-for-creating-
an-impression-of-tax-evasion

16 January 2019

U.S. group calls for acquittal of Turkish journalist, condemns jail sentence

Turkey’s sentencing of reporter Pelin Ünker to 13 months in prison on charges of insulting a former prime minister marks a “brazen assault” on journalism, free speech advocate PEN America said on Tuesday.

Ünker reported on tax evasion within Malta companies owned by Binali Yıldırım, former prime minister and current speaker of Turkish parliament, and his sons, as part of the Paradise Papers coverage in Turkish daily Cumhuriyet.

She was convicted in November 2017 and sentenced last week to 13 months in prison and a fine of 8,660 Turkish lira ($1610). Ünker was not taken into custody as her lawyers are set to file an appeal.

“Pelin Ünker’s conviction and sentencing is a travesty, and represents yet another blow to the ability of Turkish investigative journalists to work freely,” said Karin Deutsch Karlekar, director of PEN America’s Free Expression at Risk program. “We condemn the decision, call for her acquittal on appeal, and stand by Ünker and other courageous journalists who continue to uncover corruption and other types of malfeasance in the public interest, despite the widespread climate of fear in Turkey.”

Yıldırım also filed a civil lawsuit for defamation, claiming 500,000 liras ($92,412) in damages. That trial could come in a few months, after the criminal court makes its decision on Ünker’s appeal.

“There is no journalistic activity in those articles, but defamation,” Yıldırım said on Jan. 10, referring to Ünker’s reporting. “Remaining silent would be endorsing those allegations.”

The European Parliament last week urged the European Commission to officially condemn Turkey for Ünker’s conviction and sentencing.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) ranked Turkey 157th among 180 countries on the 2018 World Free Press Index. A government crackdown on media that began before the 2016 failed coup, intensified in its aftermath, with Ankara shutting down more than 175 news outlets, putting thousands of journalists out of work.

“There are more than 100 writers, journalists, and media workers in prison, making Turkey the country with the highest number of imprisoned journalists in the world,” wrote PEN America. “Freedom of expression and of the press has virtually disappeared in Turkey.” Source

8 January 2019:

Turkish journalist sentenced to prison over ‘Paradise Papers’ leak

A Turkish court sentenced investigative journalist Pelin Ünker to one year and 15 months in prison in addition to a 8860 lira ($1,615) fine over her articles detailing large transactions in overseas tax havens conducted by former Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım’s sons, independent new site T24 reported.

Referred to as the ‘’Paradise Papers’’ data leak, the reports covering the Yıldırım’s sons’ stake in offshore shipping companies, landed Cumhuriyet reporter Ünker in legal hot water with the former prime minister’s family in July 2018.

In November 2017, Cumhuriyet reported that Yıldırım’s two sons were the main beneficiaries of five shipping companies registered in Malta for tax optimisation purposes.

The family did not deny the report, but brought a suit against the newspaper, citing its attempt to “create a false and partial perception by public opinion.”

"I did my duty as a journalist. The story was about public figures. I did my job in sharing the incident with the public. He was given the right to respond. I don't think the story I did constitutes a crime,’’ Ünker has said regarding the charges levelled at her.

Ünker and her lawyers are preparing to take the case to an appeals court, T24 said.

30 December 2018:

Another “Paradise Papers” case against Ünker gets underway

Journalist Pelin Ünker on 27 December appeared before an Istanbul court for the first hearing of a case where she is accused of “insulting a public official” in her coverage of the “Paradise Papers” leaks, published in 2017 in the Cumhuriyet daily.

The case was filed by Speaker of the Parliament — AKP’s nominee for Mayor of Istanbul in the upcoming local elections and former Prime Minister —Binali Yıldırım’s lawyers, who also sued the journalist for “violating the personal rights” of the Yıldırım family in the same news reports, seeking TL 500,000 in non-pecuniary damages. That lawsuit is now on hold, awaiting the outcome of this case.

Binali Yıldırım’s two sons as well as his nephew were reportedly associated with at least five companies mentioned in the “Paradise Papers” leaks, a set of 13.4 million leaked confidential electronic documents relating to offshore investments by around 120 high-profile names from around the world.

P24 monitored Thursday’s hearing at the Anadolu 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance. Ünker and her lawyer Abbas Yalçın and the plaintiffs’ lawyer Muhammed Gök were in attendance.

At the start of the hearing, Ünker’s lawyer requested that this case be merged with the other lawsuit against Ünker, which the court rejected. The lawyer then requested a continuance in order for Ünker to prepare her defense statement, which the judge also rejected and said Ünker should make her defense statement during this hearing.

Ünker then began her defense statement, in which she explained that the news reports for which she was accused were not only about Binali Yıldırım and his sons but that numerous well-known figures were also mentioned in both stories.

Ünker continued: “The stories also mentioned Binali Yıldırım’s uncle and nephew, however, no complaints were filed concerning these people. Binali Yıldırım did not deny the existence of the said companies in the statement he issued after the news broke. On the contrary, he said these kinds of trade relations were not unusual. The news stories did not claim the said offshore companies were illegal businesses; they said these companies were avoiding paying taxes through the loopholes in legislation. The news stories did not say this was a crime; they questioned how ethical it was.”

Addressing the court following Ünker, her lawyer told the court that the newspaper published Binali Yıldırım’s statement concerning the leaks in its entirety and that it also ran his rebuttal. The lawyer added that the headline of a related story in the newspaper which read, “Head of the government avoiding tax,” was not Ünker’s statement but a remark by a main opposition CHP MP.

Addressing the court following Ünker’s lawyer Yalçın, the plaintiffs’ lawyer Muhammed Gök said the headlines of the news stories “gave the impression that the then-prime minister was involved in [tax evasion].”

Gök said that they did not respond to the questions Ünker sent because they “were irrelevant with the news.” “They were incriminating and biased questions. We did not have to respond,” Gök said.

Issuing an interim ruling at the end of the hearing, the judge adjourned the case until 8 January 2019 for the final defense statement to be prepared. Source

22 November 2018:
Pelin Ünker appears in court for second “Paradise Papers” lawsuit

Journalist Pelin Ünker on 22 November appeared before an Istanbul court for a lawsuit where she is accused of “libel” on account of two news stories she penned for Cumhuriyet daily about the “Paradise Papers” leaks.
The case, filed upon complaints by Minister Berat Albayrak and his brother, Serhat Albayrak, is overseen by the 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance of Istanbul.
Ünker, her lawyers and lawyers representing the plaintiffs were in attendance at the hearing.

Ünker’s lawyer Tora Pekin requested that the files of two separate cases against Ünker before the same court where the accusations stem from the same articles be merged. Pekin requested that Ünker give her defense statement after the merging of the files.
In its interim ruling at the end of the hearing, the court ruled to review the two files against Ünker to examine the legal and de facto connection between the two, and adjourned the trial until 21 February 2019.

5 November 2018:

Turkish PM and sons file lawsuit against journalist over Paradise Papers reports

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım and his sons have filed a lawsuit against a journalist for her investigation into offshore tax havens, independent news site T24 reported.

The lawsuit is a follow up to a defamation action filed in July by Yildirim, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s son-in-law and Minister of Finance and Treasury Berat Albayrak, and members of their families against investigative journalist Pelin Ünker and her newspaper Cumhuriyet for their coverage of Paradise Papers.

An international network of over 380 journalists combed over the 13.4 million documents from tax havens leaked to German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung in the so-called “Paradise Papers” in 2017, exposing the activities of powerful individuals and companies in these areas.

Ünker’s investigative report covering the papers focused on non-transparent transactions by powerful individuals close to the Turkish president, suggesting tax avoidance by these individuals, includingYıldırım, whose sons, Erkam and Bülent Yıldırım, were shown to be shareholders in five offshore companies in Malta.

Yıldırm and his sons’ earlier this year demanded Ünker pay 500,000 liras for the infringement of their personal rights; the court has yet to deliver a verdict on the matter.

‘’We were expecting this, but I don’t know why they filed a defamation suit before filing a [seperate] lawsuit,’’ Ünker said.

The first hearing for the case is set to take place in İstanbul on Dec. 27. Source

1 October 2018:

Two more journalists part ways with Cumhuriyet

Canan Coşkun, a legal affairs reporter facing years in prison for a report on Turkish judicial officials, and finance editor and reporter Pelin Ünker are the latest in a wave of journalists parting ways with secularist daily Cumhuriyet since it restructured its editorial staff in September.

Coşkun announced her break with Cumhuriyet on Twitter, saying she would remember the newspaper fondly.
The legal affairs reporter was hit with a sentence of 2 years and 3 months for “targeting officials involved in the fight against terrorism” after she reported that a lottery to select homebuyers for a coveted project in Istanbul had been rigged in favour of members of the judiciary.

Ünker has also run into legal trouble for her part in reporting on large transactions in overseas tax havens conducted by former Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım’s sons, as revealed in the Paradise Papers data leak.

The pair have followed dozens of other renowned journalists who have parted ways with the newspaper after it announced a new editorial board headed by controversial figures including Alev Coşkun, who was alleged to have sent anonymous denunciations to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan which were used as evidence in trials against Cumhuriyet staff.

Fifteen staff members of the newspaper, including former editor-in-chief Murat Sabuncu, were given long prison sentences in April for allegedly supporting the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a militant Kurdish group, and the Gülen movement, a religious organisation blamed for plotting the July 2016 coup attempt. Both groups are designated as terrorist organisations by Turkey. Source

6 September 2018:

“Paradise Papers” case against Pelin Ünker adjourned

Cumhuriyet daily’s finance desk editor Pelin Ünker appeared before an Istanbul court on 6 September for the third hearing of a lawsuit filed by former Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım and his sons. Yıldırım and his sons are seeking TL 500,000 in non-pecuniary damages in the lawsuit, claiming that two reports published in Cumhuriyet concerning the “Paradise Papers” leaks “violated their personal rights.”

P24 monitored the hearing at the Anadolu 24th Civil Court of First Instance, where Ünker and her lawyer Abbas Yalçın attended. Yıldırım and his sons were represented by lawyer Muhammed Gök. The plaintiffs’ lawyer submitted to the court documents relating to another criminal case filed with the Anadolu 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance against Ünker on grounds of the same coverage on the charge of “insulting a public official,” which the said court ruled non-jurisdiction.

Defense lawyer Yalçın said they had no knowledge of any ongoing additional criminal proceedings or investigations against them, but that in such an event, all legal proceedings relating to the same coverage should be merged in a single file.

The judge then adjourned the trial indefinitely, saying that since this was a non-pecuniary compensation case, and since it had become evident that other lawsuits and investigations in relation to the same coverage were under way, the court would await the conclusion of those criminal proceedings and would resume the trial afterwards. No date has been set for the next hearing.

17 July 2018:

“Paradise Papers” case against Cumhuriyet journalists adjourned

Cumhuriyet daily’s finance desk editor Pelin Ünker appeared before an Istanbul court on 17 July for the second hearing of a lawsuit filed by former Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım and his sons. Yıldırım and his sons are seeking TL 500,000 in non-pecuniary damages in the lawsuit, claiming that two reports published in Cumhuriyet concerning the “Paradise Papers” leaks “violated their personal rights.”

P24 monitored the hearing at the Anadolu 24th Civil Court of First Instance, where Ünker and her lawyer Abbas Yalçın attended. Yıldırım and his sons were represented by lawyer Tuba Kılıç. Kılıç reiterated the plaintiffs’ claims during the hearing. Yalçın said the defense statement in response to the allegations would be submitted in written form, as is the rule in such lawsuits, and the judge postponed the trial until 6 September.

Ünker is standing trial alongside Cumhuriyet Foundation Executive Board Chairman Orhan Erinç in the case.

21 June 2018:

Ahmet Altan, Pelin Ünker, Perihan Mağden trials adjourned

One of the numerous trials against imprisoned novelist and journalist Ahmet Altan on the charge of “insulting the president,” set for June 21 at the Istanbul 30th Criminal Court of First Instance, was postponed because the judge was on leave. The case is based on an article by Altan titled “The New Ergenekon”, which was posted on the P24 website on May 8, 2016. The case was postponed until December 21, 2018.

Pelin Ünker, the finance desk editor for Cumhuriyet daily, was also set to appear before a court on June 21 for the first hearing of a trial against her on account of a news story about “Paradise Papers.” The case was filed by Energy Minister Berat Albayrak, his brother Serhat Albayrak, and businessman Ahmet Çalık on grounds of Ünker’s November 2017 story. The case, which was initially rejected but was reopened after the Albayraks and Çalık objected, was postponed to a later date because the judge of the 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance of Istanbul was on leave on June 21.

The new Turkey Pelin Ünker The finance desk editor for Cumhuriyet daily