Freedom of Expression and the Press in Turkey – 153
Former DİHA reporter Uğur Akgül jailed; Hülya Emeç, her news source given suspended prison terms for “denigrating security forces” in news story

10.08.2018
Uğur Akgül, a former reporter for a the shuttered Dicle News Agency (DİHA) was arrested on 8 August in the southeastern city of Mardin.
Akgül was arrested by the police at his father’s workplace after a court upheld a 2.5 year-conviction for Akgül. Akgül was sentenced for his coverage of the curfews imposed in Nusaybin.
Akgül was sent to the Mardin E Type Prison.
Mehmet Baransu refuses to continue defense, trial adjourned till November
Former Taraf correspondent Mehmet Baransu on 7 August appeared at the ninth hearing of a court case against former journalists of the shuttered daily on the alleged publication of documents called “Egemen War Plan.”
P24 monitored the hearing at the 13th High Criminal Court of Istanbul. The hearing could only begin in the afternoon because one of the judges on the panel was assigned to two different panels. The hearing was originally planned to last for three days and Baransu was expected to continue with his defense statement, but he refused to go on with it without the court’s original panel.
His lawyer Yahya Engin also said they requested to continue with their defense statement before the original panel overseeing the case.
Engin also requested for Baransu to be released from pretrial detention in line with the European Convention on Human Rights and case law by the European Court of Human Rights.
Baransu then requested for this file to be merged with an ongoing trial against him in Mersin.
Issuing an interim ruling after a brief recess, the court ruled for the continuation of Baransu’s detention. The panel also decided to examine the indictment for the case in Mersin, and adjourned the trial until 1-2 November 2018.
Berzan Güneş released from pretrial detention in first hearing
Berzan Güneş, a reporter for Mezopotamya news agency, who was jailed pending trial in June, was released from pretrial detention at the end of the first hearing of his case.
Güneş is indicted for “conducting propaganda for a terrorist organization” via social media.
Addressing the High Criminal Court of Iğdır via the courtroom video-conferencing system SEGBİS from the Şırnak Prison, Güneş rejected the accusations and said all his social media posts featured news content. He said his posts had not included his personal comments, only the facts and had not aimed at propaganda of any organization.
Issuing an interim ruling at the end of the hearing, the court ruled to release Güneş in line with the prosecutor’s opinion. The court imposed judicial control measures and an overseas travel ban on Güneş and adjourned the trial until 4 September.
Ziya Ataman remains behind bars in 3rd hearing
Jailed DİHA reporter Ziya Ataman, in pretrial detention since April 2016, appeared before a Şırnak court on 7 August for the third hearing of his trial.
Although Ataman was arrested on the charge of “membership in a terrorist group,” he is charged in the indictment with eight different offences, including “disrupting the unity and integrity of the state,” “attempting to intentionally kill a civil servant because of the public service he performs with premeditation,” “intentionally killing a civil a servant because of the public service he performs with premeditation,” and “attempting to premeditated murder.” Ataman stands trial alongside 18 other defendants.
Addressing the court via SEGBİS from the Van Maximum Security Prison, Ataman said the indictment had been prepared without taking his deposition and the accusations were not based on concrete evidence. Adding that he was already in prison at the time of the incident in the indictment, Ataman requested for his release and his acquittal.
Lawyers representing Ataman’s co-defendants also told the court that a witness who testified against the defendants for he case file had actually testified under torture and that this person was made to sign a deposition he did not give.
Issuing its interim ruling at the end of the hearing, the First High Criminal Court of Şırnak ordered the continuation of Ataman and the rest of the jailed defendants’ pretrial detention, and adjourned the trial until 26 October.
MA reporter Ruken Demir taken into custody, released
Ruken Demir, an İzmir based reported for the Mezopotamya news agency, was taken into custody on 7 August in Diyarbakır. After being held in detention for three days at the Diyarbakır Police Department, Demir was referred to the courthouse on 10 August, and released from custody under judicial control measures.
Demir was detained as part of an investigation launched by the İzmir Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, as part of which the journalist’s home in Izmir was also raided on 7 August. Demir is accused in the investigation with the terrorism-related charges of “membership in a terrorist group” and “conducting propaganda for a terrorist group.”
Hülya Emeç, news source given suspended prison terms
Hülya Emeç, a former reporter for DİHA, and her source were each given 6 months in prison for a news report.
Emeç had written about a 48-year-old man named Şefik Tunuç, who died of a heart attack after police, in 2014, raided his house in Gevaş, a district of Van, three times in a row.
Emeç’s coverage prompted a court case, in which the dead man’s widow Hafize Tunuç, DİHA Executive Board Chair Zeleriya Güzüpek, DİHA responsible managing editor Dicle Müftüoğlu, and DİHA Van bureau chief Ferhat Çelik were indicted alongside Emeç for “publicly denigrating the security organization” as per Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code.
Announcing its verdict at the end of the final hearing of the case, the Gevaş Criminal Court of First Instance found Emeç and Tunuç guilty, giving both suspended 6-month prison sentences. Güzüpek, Müftüoğlu and Çelik were acquitted.
Tele 1 TV fined for comment about “imam-hatip” students
Turkey’s broadcasting watchdog, the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK), fined the TV station Tele 1 for remarks on a news programme called “18 Dakika” (18 Minutes). RTÜK imposed the highest administrative fine on Tele 1 TV for comments about state-run Islamic schools called “imam-hatip schools” during the said programme. RTÜK said the fine was imposed because “imam-hatip students were billed during the comments as militants and Atatürk haters.”
Other free expression cases of the past week
Four individuals in Kayseri were taken into custody on allegations that they conducted propaganda for PKK/KCK on social media. Kenan Maraşlı, who ran for the Parliament as a People’s Democratic Party (HDP) candidate in the 24 June elections, was among those in custody, news reports said.
Mehmet Ali Başkale, a security guard for Şişli Mayor Hayri İnönü, was jailed pending trial on 9 August on the charge of “insulting the president” via Twitter. Başkale was arrested as part of an investigation launched by the Istanbul Public Prosecutor’s Office. He was referred to a court the same day, which jailed Başkale.
Journalists and media workers in prison
P24 has updated its list of Journalists and Media Workers in Jail, compiled using information available in open sources.
Following Berzan Güneş’s release from pretrial detention and Uğur Akgül’s imprisonment during the week, and two recent inclusions in the list — ETHA intern reporter Ferhat Haldun Pehlivan and Atılım newspaper’s chief editor Demir Bakır, both of whom are in pretrial detention in Silivri Prison — there are now at least 183 journalists and media workers either in pretrial detention or serving a sentence in Turkey’s prisons.
The full list can be accessed here.
1 Abdulkadir Turay, DİHA reporter
2 Abdullah Kaya, DİHA
3 Abdullah Kılıç, Habertürk
4 Abdullah Özyurt, Zaman reporter
5 Abdulvahap İş, freelance journalist
6 Adil Demirci, ETHA reporter
7 Ahmet Altan
8 Ahmet Feyzullah Özyurt
9 Ahmet Memiş, Haberdar news website
10 Ahmet Metin Sekizkardeş, Zaman
11 Ahmet Yavaş, TRT (Erzurum)
12 Ali Ahmet Böken, TRT News coordinator
13 Ali Akkuş, Zaman
14 Ali Aşikar, Azadiya Welat
15 Ali Babür Boysal, Zaman page designer
16 Ali Sönmez Kayar, ETHA reporter
17 Ali Ünal, Zaman columnist
18 Ali Yüce, TRT Radio broadcasts chief
19 Arafat Dayan, Demokratik Ulus
20 Aslı Ceren Aslan, Özgür Gelecek
21 Ayşe Nazlı Ilıcak
22 Ayşenur Parıldak, Zaman, Haberdar
23 Aytekin Gezici, journalist/writer
24 Aziz İstegün, Diyarbakır Zaman representative
25 Barış Ceyhan, Özgürlükçü Demokrasi employee
26 Bayram Kaya, Zaman reporter
27 Behram Kılıç
28 Beytullah Özdemir, Zaman Düzce bureau chief
29 Burçin Dokgöz, former Zaman and Çorum reporter
30 Cemal Azmi Kalyoncu, Journalists and Writers’ Foundation
31 Cemal Tunç, Gün Matbaacılık employee
32 Ceren Taşkın, Hatay'ın Sesi
33 Cuma Ulus, Millet newspaper’s publications coordinator
34 Cumali Çaygeç, TRT Şeş news director
35 Cumali Öz, Gün Matbaacılık employee
36 Cüneyt Seza Özkan, Samanyolu TV
37 Çetin Kurşun, Azadiya Welat
38 Deniz Bakır, Atılım editor in chief
39 Doğan Baran, Odak magazine owner, managing editor
40 Ece Sevim Öztürk, Çağdaş Ses editor in chief
41 Emin Demir, freelancer
42 Emre Soncan, Zaman defense reporter
43 Ercan Gün, Fox TV
44 Erdal Süsem, Eylül magazine editor
45 Erdal Şen, former Meydan managing editor
46 Erdoğan Zamur, Gün Matbaacılık employee
47 Erol Yüksel, TRT News Department vice president
48 Erol Zavar, Odak magazine owner and newsroom director
49 Fahrettin Kılıç, Özgür Toplum
50 Faruk Akkan, Cihan news agency
51 Ferhat Çiftçi, Azadiya Welat Gaziantep bureau chief
52 Ferhat Haldun Pehlivan, ETHA intern reporter
53 Ferhat Parlak, Silvan Mücadele newspaper owner
54 Fevzi Yazıcı, Zaman chief designer
55 Gökçe Fırat Çulhaoğlu, Türksolu columnist
56 Gurbet Çakar, Hevi women’s magazine
57 Gültekin Avcı
58 Habip Güler, Zaman reporter
59 Hakan Aksel, TRT producer-director
60 Hakan Ergün, Azadiya Welat and Özgür Gündem distributor
61 Hakan Taşdelen
62 Halil İbrahim Mert, TRT (Erzurum)
63 Hamit Dilbahar, Azadiya Welat columnist
64 Hamza Günerigök, TRT
65 Hanım Büşra Erdal, Zaman reporter and columnist
66 Hasan Bzokurt, Bugün reporter
67 Hasan Duman, Özgürlükçü Demokrasi distributor
68 Hasan Hüseyin Örs, former TRT production-broadcast operator
69 Hasan Taşar, former TRT Ankara reporter
70 Hatice Duman, Atılım newspaper owner and managing editor
71 Haydar Ergül, Demokratik Modernite editor
72 Hicran Ürün, Özgürlükçü Demokrasi editor
73 Hidayet Karaca, Samanyolu Media Group president
74 Hüseyin Aydın, Cihan reporter
75 İbrahim Halil Öztürkeri, former TRT production-broadcast operator
76 İdris Okur, Cihan New Agency Çorum reporter
77 İdris Sayılgan, DİHA
78 İdris Yılmaz
79 İhsan Sinmiş, Gün Matbaacılık employee
80 İhsan Yaşar, Özgürlükçü Demokrasi owner
81 İrfan Karaca, Gün Matbaacılık employee
82 İshak Yasul, Özgürlükçü Demokrasi responsible managing editor
83 İsmail Çoban, former Azadiya Welat managing editor
84 İsmail Ersan, Anatolia news agency
85 İsminaz Temel, ETHA editor
86 Kamuran Sunbat, former DİHA Çukurova reporter
87 Kasım Zengin, owner of Gün Matbaacılık
88 Kazım Canlan, Cihan news agency Ankara news director
89 Kazım Göçer, Gün Matbaacılık employee
90 Kemal Daşdöğen, Gün Matbaacılık employee
91 Kemal Demir, TV 10
92 Kemal Özer, Evrensel
93 Kemal Sancılı, Özgür Gündem copyrights holder
94 Kenan Karavil, Radyo Dünya editor-in-chief
95 Kubilay Çelik, Antropolog magazine responsible managing editor
96 Mahmut Abay, Gün Matbaacılık employee
97 Mehmet Ali Ay
98 Mehmet Ali Çelebi, Özgürlükçü Demokrasi editor
99 Mehmet Baransu, Taraf columnist/reporter
100 Mehmet Dursun
101 Mehmet Emin Sümeli, Gün Matbaacılık employee
102 Mehmet Güleş, DİHA
103 Mehmet Gündem
104 Mehmet Kadir Özkara, Gün Matbaacılık employee
105 Mehmet Kuru, Zaman Eskişehir reporter
106 Mehmet Sıddık damar, DİHA
107 Meltem Oktay, DİHA reporter
108 Metin Arslan, Bugün reporter
109 Mikail Barut, Özgür Halk former editor
110 Miktat Algül, Mezitli FM broadcast coordinator
111 Mizgin Çay, Radyo Karacadağ
112 Muhammed Sait Kuloğlu, owner of Subuhaber.com
113 Muhammet Özkan, Gün Matbaacılık employee
114 Muhsin Pilgir, Zaman and Cihan news agency
115 Murat Çapan, Nokta
116 Murat Dağdeviren, Demokrat Gebze owner
117 Musa Kaya, Gün Matbaacılık employee
118 Mustafa Erkan Acar, Bugün news editor
119 Mustafa Gök, Ankara bureau chief for Ekmek ve Adalet magazine
120 Mustafa Gökkılıç, reporter, Radikal and Habertürk TV
121 Mustafa Göktaş, Özgür Gündem Şanlıurfa reporter
122 Mustafa Ünal, Zaman
123 Mutlu Çölgeçen, Millet, newsroom coordinator
124 Mutlu Özay, Cihan reporter
125 Mümtazer Türköne, Zaman columnist
126 Mürsel Demir, Gün Matbaacılık employee
127 Nadir Yücel, Çorum Yıldız local newspaper editor-in-chief
128 Necat Hizarcı, Gün Matbaacılık employee
129 Nedim Türfent, DİHA
130 Nizamettin İzgi, Batman newspaper owner
131 Nuh Gönültaş, Bugün columnist
132 Nuri Durna, TRT
133 Nuri Yeşil, Azadiya Welat Dersim bureau chief
134 Nurullah Kaya, Gaziantep Zaman representative
135 Oğuz Usluer, Habertürk former broadcasts coordinator
136 Osman Yakut, Zaman Antalya
137 Ömer Oruç, Cihan newspaper
138 Özcan Keser, TRT reporter
139 Özden Kınık, TRT
140 Özgür Bozkurt, Gün Matbaacılık employee
141 Pınar Gayıp, ETHA reporter
142 Pınar Tarlak, Özgürlükçü Demokrasi employee
143 Polat Arslan, Gün Matbaacılık employee
144 Reyhan Çapan, Özgür Gündem managing editor
145 Reyhan Hacıoğlu, Özgürlükçü Demokrasi editor
146 Sadettin Demirtaş, Gün Matbaacılık employee
147 Sadık Demir, Radyo Karacadağ
148 Sait Gürkan Tuzlu, Cihan reporter
149 Salih Erbekler, Radyo Karacadağ
150 Sami Tunca, Mücadele Birliği magazine managing editor
151 Seda Taşkın, Mezopotamya News Agency reporter
152 Semiha Mete, Özgürlükçü Demokrasi reporter/distributor
153 Semiha Şahin, ETHA editor
154 Serhat Şeftali, Zaman regional bureau chief for the Med region
155 Serkan Aydemir, Bitlis Aktüel reporter
156 Serpil Ünal, Mücadele Birliği reporter
157 Sertan Önal, Halkın Günlüğü reporter
158 Seyid Kılıç, TRT News
159 Seyithan Akyüz, Azadiya Welat Adana bureau chief
160 Sezai Yavaş, TRT Diyarbakır deputy regional director
161 Songül Yücel, Önsöz editor in chief
162 Süleyman Acar, Mücadele Birliği editor in chief
163 Süleyman Güneş, Gün Matbaacılık employee
164 Şahabettin Demir, DİHA reporter
165 Şeref Yılmaz, Irmak TV
166 Şirin Kabakçı, Zaman Konya bureau chief
167 Togay Okay, Özgür Gelecek
168 Turgut Usul, TRT reporter
169 Ufuk Şanlı, former Vatan columnist
170 Uğur Akgül
171 Uğur Selman Kelekçiler, Gün Matbaacılık employee
172 Ünal Tanık, Rota Haber editor-in-chief
173 Vahit Yazgan, İzmir Zaman bureau chief
174 Veli Büyükşahin, TV10 executive
175 Veli Haydar Güleç, TV10 executive
176 Yakup Çetin, Zaman reporter
177 Yakup Şimşek, Zaman, marketing director
178 Yalçın Güler, TRT (Erzurum)
179 Yener Dönmez, Habervaktim news website
180 Yetkin Yıldız, Aktif Haber website editor
181 Yılmaz Kahraman, Özgür Halk editor
182 Zehra Doğan, Jinha
183 Ziya Ataman, DİHA reporter