Acquittal for journalist Ayça Söylemez in “targetting officials” case
Journalist and human rights defender Ayça Söylemez was on trial because of a news story she wrote for BirGün Newspaper on 18 February 2020. PEN Norway observed Söylemez’s hearing in Istanbul on 19 March 2024.
Ayça Söylemez, the journalist and human rights editor for Bianet news outlet, was acquitted on 19 March, 2024 of the charge of “marking as targets the persons who are in charge of fighting terrorism” in the case against her based upon a criminal complaint filed by Akın Gürlek, Turkey’s Deputy Minister of Justice. The judicial panel stated that, “Elements of the alleged offence did not occur”.
The second hearing of this case was held at İstanbul 29th High Criminal Court where Söylemez attended together with her lawyer Güçlü Sevimli. The hearing was monitored by PEN Norway as well as NGOs and media freedom organisations P24, the Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA), Article 19, the Journalists’ Union of Turkey and representatives of the US Consulate in Istanbul.
Söylemez’s Defence
Journalist Söylemez defended herself against the prosecution’s charges in today’s hearing with the following:
“As you are aware, my story, subject to the indictment, does not contain any criminal offence according to our laws. All information included in the story is publicly available and the article simply intended to provide information. Mine was a journalistic duty and activity that fell within the scope of freedom of the press. It is part of our duty as journalists to disseminate the news.”
Lawyer Sevimli: “The court must rule to dismiss the case”
After Söylemez, her lawyer Güçlü Sevimli took the floor. Sevimli stated that the lawsuit was not filed in due time as required by Article 26 of the Press Law and therefore should be dismissed and noted that the four-month statute of limitations had legally expired. Highlighting that a lawsuit was filed three years after Söylemez’s story, Sevimli continued as follows:
“The client’s story falls within the scope of freedom of the press. Judge Gürlek, the victim in this case, did not submit an individual complaint against my client. In the file, we see that the investigation started with the police report. Any decision to sentence my client will be unfair as this case does not even contain Gürlek’s written complaint.
Sevimli reminded the court that the journalists against whom now-Deputy Justice Minister Akın Gürlek had filed complaints had previously been tried and acquitted and said that these judgements underlined that “judges are not people who are assigned in the fight against terrorism”.
Sevimli stated that Assoc. Prof. Dr. Timuçin Köprülü’s opinion on the charge against Söylemez was submitted to the file and added that there was not even a word in Söylemez’s story about marking the judge as a target for any organisation. Sevimli stated that there was no special intention in the story and reminded the violation judgements of the European Court of Human Rights regarding the charge in question.
After the completion of the defence statements, the presiding judge announced that the trial was about to be finalised and asked for Söylemez’s last statement. Söylemez also requested to be acquitted.
After Söylemez’s statement, the Court left the courtroom for a short deliberation and then the verdict was announced. Finding that the legal elements of the offence of “marking as targets the people who took are in charge of fight against terrorism” did not occur, the Court acquitted Söylemez.
Chronology of events
Journalist Ayça Söylemez was on trial because of a news story she wrote for BirGün Newspaper on 18 February 2020 with the title “Talented Mr. Judge”.
In her story, Söylemez stated that Akın Gürlek, who was then the president of a high criminal court in Istanbul, took part in the trials of journalist Canan Coşkun, Canan Kaftancıoğlu, the former CHP Istanbul Provincial Chair, Selahattin Demirtaş, the former HDP Co-Chair, Şebnem Korur Fincancı, the President of the Turkish Medical Association (TTB), lawyers who were members of the Progressive Lawyers Association (ÇHD), Academics for Peace Academics, and executives, writers and employees of the Sözcü newspaper.
Although years had passed since the publication of this story, an investigation was launched against Söylemez in June 2023. Within the scope of the investigation, Terrorism and Organised Crime Investigation Bureau under the Prosecutor’s Office of İstanbul prepared an indictment against Söylemez in July 2023. Söylemez was put on trial on 22 November 2023 following the charge that she was “marking as targets the people who are in charge of the fight against terrorism” under Article 6/1 of the Anti-Terror Law.
In the first hearing, the prosecutor’s office announced its opinion on the merits of the case and stated that Akın Gürlek was the victim and requested that Söylemez be sentenced.
In late 2023, PEN Norway published an article on the issue, noting the increased frequency of trials against journalists in Turkey on the grounds of Article 6/1 of the Anti-Terror Law. Ayça Söylemez, whose opinion was quoted in the relevant article, stated the following: “As I stated in court, the prosecutor’s argument of ‘disclosure’ is invalid from the outset, because all the statements and information in my story, which I wrote years ago and which is the subject of the accusation, are based on statements made in the hearings of cases already followed by the public.”
PEN Norway welcome Ayça Söylemez’s acquittal, yet it is evident that she should not have been brought before a court of law, considering the time constraints outlined in Article 26 of the Press Law. In 2024, PEN Norway Turkey Indictment Project will publish the review report on the indictment issued against Ayça Söylemez.
Read PEN Norway’s article: “Turkey’s journalists in the firing line for ‘targeting officials’“.
Gazeteci Ayça Söylemez “hedef gösterme” davasından beraat etti
Ayça Söylemez, the journalist and human rights editor for Bianet news outlet, was acquitted on 19 March, 2024 of the charge of “marking as targets the persons who are in charge of fighting terrorism” in the case against her based upon a criminal complaint filed by Akın Gürlek, Turkey’s Deputy Minister of Justice. The judicial panel stated that, “Elements of the alleged offence did not occur”.
The second hearing of this case was held at İstanbul 29th High Criminal Court where Söylemez attended together with her lawyer Güçlü Sevimli. The hearing was monitored by PEN Norway as well as NGOs and media freedom organisations P24, the Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA), Article 19, the Journalists’ Union of Turkey and representatives of the US Consulate in Istanbul.
Söylemez’s Defence
Journalist Söylemez defended herself against the prosecution’s charges in today’s hearing with the following:
“As you are aware, my story, subject to the indictment, does not contain any criminal offence according to our laws. All information included in the story is publicly available and the article simply intended to provide information. Mine was a journalistic duty and activity that fell within the scope of freedom of the press. It is part of our duty as journalists to disseminate the news.”
Lawyer Sevimli: “The court must rule to dismiss the case”
After Söylemez, her lawyer Güçlü Sevimli took the floor. Sevimli stated that the lawsuit was not filed in due time as required by Article 26 of the Press Law and therefore should be dismissed and noted that the four-month statute of limitations had legally expired. Highlighting that a lawsuit was filed three years after Söylemez’s story, Sevimli continued as follows:
“The client’s story falls within the scope of freedom of the press. Judge Gürlek, the victim in this case, did not submit an individual complaint against my client. In the file, we see that the investigation started with the police report. Any decision to sentence my client will be unfair as this case does not even contain Gürlek’s written complaint.
Sevimli reminded the court that the journalists against whom now-Deputy Justice Minister Akın Gürlek had filed complaints had previously been tried and acquitted and said that these judgements underlined that “judges are not people who are assigned in the fight against terrorism”.
Sevimli stated that Assoc. Prof. Dr. Timuçin Köprülü’s opinion on the charge against Söylemez was submitted to the file and added that there was not even a word in Söylemez’s story about marking the judge as a target for any organisation. Sevimli stated that there was no special intention in the story and reminded the violation judgements of the European Court of Human Rights regarding the charge in question.
After the completion of the defence statements, the presiding judge announced that the trial was about to be finalised and asked for Söylemez’s last statement. Söylemez also requested to be acquitted.
After Söylemez’s statement, the Court left the courtroom for a short deliberation and then the verdict was announced. Finding that the legal elements of the offence of “marking as targets the people who took are in charge of fight against terrorism” did not occur, the Court acquitted Söylemez.
Chronology of events
Journalist Ayça Söylemez was on trial because of a news story she wrote for BirGün Newspaper on 18 February 2020 with the title “Talented Mr. Judge”.
In her story, Söylemez stated that Akın Gürlek, who was then the president of a high criminal court in Istanbul, took part in the trials of journalist Canan Coşkun, Canan Kaftancıoğlu, the former CHP Istanbul Provincial Chair, Selahattin Demirtaş, the former HDP Co-Chair, Şebnem Korur Fincancı, the President of the Turkish Medical Association (TTB), lawyers who were members of the Progressive Lawyers Association (ÇHD), Academics for Peace Academics, and executives, writers and employees of the Sözcü newspaper.
Although years had passed since the publication of this story, an investigation was launched against Söylemez in June 2023. Within the scope of the investigation, Terrorism and Organised Crime Investigation Bureau under the Prosecutor’s Office of İstanbul prepared an indictment against Söylemez in July 2023. Söylemez was put on trial on 22 November 2023 following the charge that she was “marking as targets the people who are in charge of the fight against terrorism” under Article 6/1 of the Anti-Terror Law.
In the first hearing, the prosecutor’s office announced its opinion on the merits of the case and stated that Akın Gürlek was the victim and requested that Söylemez be sentenced.
In late 2023, PEN Norway published an article on the issue, noting the increased frequency of trials against journalists in Turkey on the grounds of Article 6/1 of the Anti-Terror Law. Ayça Söylemez, whose opinion was quoted in the relevant article, stated the following: “As I stated in court, the prosecutor’s argument of ‘disclosure’ is invalid from the outset, because all the statements and information in my story, which I wrote years ago and which is the subject of the accusation, are based on statements made in the hearings of cases already followed by the public.”
We at PEN Norway welcome Ayça Söylemez’s acquittal, yet it is evident that she should not have been brought before a court of law, considering the time constraints outlined in Article 26 of the Press Law. In 2024, PEN Norway Turkey Indictment Project will publish the review report on the indictment issued against Ayça Söylemez.
To access PEN Norway’s article titled “Turkey’s journalists in the firing line for ‘targeting officials’” which also includes Ayça Söylemez’s opinion: PEN-Norway_-Journalists-CU-Eng.pdf (norskpen.no)
