Trial summary: Ahmet and Mehmet Altan

February 2018
 
On 16 February 2018, six journalists, writers and media workers were sentenced to aggravated life sentences, on charges related to the July 2016 coup attempt. This briefing focused on the cases of Ahmet and Mehmet Altan, whose cases have been examined by P24 and ARTICLE 19.
 
Based on trial observations, we are convinced that all defendants were prosecuted in relation to their expression or association with Zaman Newspaper, and none of the defendants received a fair trial. All must be immediately and unconditionally released.
 
Defendants
The defendants in the case included prominent journalists Ahmet Altan, Mehmet Altan and Nazlı Ilıcak; director of marketing for Zaman Newspaper, Yakup Şimşek; graphic designer for Zaman Newspaper, Fevzi Yazıcı; Police Academic and occasional columnist, Şükrü Tuğrul Özşengül and Director of Vietnam advertising agency, Tibet Sanliman. The initial indictment included ten further defendants, who were separated from the case at the second hearing due to having left the country.
 
Ahmet Altan, Mehmet Altan and Nazlı Ilıcak are accused of laying the groundwork for a coup in relation to their appearance on television together on the night prior to the coup and several articles and columns they wrote. Yakup Şimşek and Fevzi Yazıcı who worked together at Zaman newspaper, are both accused of involvement in the production of a series of television adverts for Zaman, which the Prosecutor allege facilitated the coup. Tibet Sanliman was also accused of producing the same adverts through his advertising agency. Şükrü Tuğrul Özşengül has no clear connection with the other defendants, but is accused on the basis of a number of columns and a YouTube interview he did on the night of the coup attempt.
 
Initial arrest
All defendants apart from Tibet Sanliman were held in pre-trial detention prior to sentencing.
 
The Altans were detained on 10 September 2016 and held for 12 days in police custody. They had no access to lawyers for 5 days, under state of emergency provisions.[1] On 21 September 2016, they appeared before a judge, who ordered Ahmet Altan’s release, but ruled that Mehmet Altan should be held in pre-trial detention. The day after Ahmet Altan’s release, a new arrest warrant was issued against him. He surrendered himself to the police and appeared before a judge who ordered his transfer to pre-trial detention. Prior to their conviction on 16 February, the brothers had spent almost a year and a half in jail.
 
In January 2017, P24’s legal team applied to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) regarding the detention of the Altans. The case was expedited, along with a number of other cases of detained journalists. ARTICLE 19 joined a coalition of international organisations in submitting 3rd party interventions on all the cases of journalists taken to the ECtHR. Prior to applying to the ECtHR, applicants must demonstrate that they have exhausted all domestic legal remedies. The applicants in this case stated that they had applied to the Constitutional Court multiple times, but that it had not been functioning on free expression cases since the failed coup attempt.
 
Finally, on 11 January 2018, the Turkish Constitutional Court found that the pre-trial detention of Mehmet Altan for over a year had led to violations of his “right to personal liberty and security” protected under Article 19 of the Turkish Constitution and “freedom of expression and the press” protected under Articles 26 and 28, establishing the way for his immediate release. However, in violation of Article 315 of the Turkish Constitution, the lower court refused to implement this binding decision of the Constitutional Court and Mehmet Altan remained in prison. A decision from the the ECtHR is now expected in the coming months.
 
Charges
The indictment against the Altans, prepared by the Prosecutor’s Office and dated 3 May 2016, contains charges under the following provisions:

-Article 309/1 Turkish Criminal Code (TCK): Attempting to overthrow the Constitutional order through violence and force (aggravated life imprisonment)
-Article 311/1 (TCK):  Attempting to overthrow the Turkish Grand National Assembly through violence and force (aggravated life imprisonment)
​-Article 312/1 (TCK):  Attempting to abolish the Government through violence and force (aggravated life imprisonment)
-Article 314/2 (TCK):  Provides that the sentence for membership of a terrorist organisation is between 5 and 10 years
-Article 220/6 (TCK):  Any person who commits a crime on behalf of an armed terrorist organisation, without being a member, shall also be sentenced for the offence of being a member, although this may be halved.
– Articles 3 & 5 of Law 3713 on Counter-terrorism: Provide that the above offenses are terrorist offenses and the sentence may therefore be increased by one half. 

ARTICLE 19 finds the charges to be overly broad and failing to comply with international and European standards on freedom of expression.[2]
 
Evidence presented in the indictment
The indictment presents the following as evidence against Ahmet and Mehmet Altan:

-Several articles and columns criticising the government;
– Their participation in a television debate the night prior to the coup attempt, in which they criticised the government;
– Circumstantial evidence related to individuals they had talked on the phone with, who are alleged to be connected to the Gülen movement;  
– Six one-dollar bills found in Mehmet Altan’s possession, which are alleged to signify membership in the Gülen movement;
– Two witness statements including an anonymous one, alleging contact with Alaeddin Kaya, who was said to be the media contact person for Gülen;
– The failure of the allegedly Gülen-controlled Turkish police to begin an investigation into Mehmet Altan in relatıon to his participation in a conference at the Aqaba Foundation, which was under investigation;
– The lists of promotions in the Turkish Armed Forces in the last six years, after dozens of officers were arrested under Ergenekon and Balyoz cases;
– A ByLock correspondence between allegedly two Gülen followers, which mentions the Altan brothers along with the names of several well-known Turkish intellectuals. 

ARTICLE 19 has examined the evidence against the brothers and found the expression-related evidence to constitute legitimate reporting and expression of opinions on political events.[3] These articles do not contain any language that could be said to constitute incitement to violence or hatred; as such, these charges are clearly unfounded and in violation of international standards on freedom of expression.
 
The remaining evidence was flimsy and circumstantial. Apart from the submission of the six one-dollar bills to the court, no evidence was examined during the trial and the witnesses did not appear in court for cross-examination. The defense team has convincingly rebutted all the evidence listed above[4].
 
The Trial
Opening hearing, 19 – 23 June 2017: A summary of the indictment was read out in court, each defendant presented their defence statement and lawyers presented their legal defence. Each detained defendant, with the exception of Ahmet Altan who made a point of not requesting anything from the judges, requested their release from detention and acquittal. In the event of continued detention, the defense lawyers requested the lifting of restrictions in lawyer visitation and for meetings with their lawyers without surveillance. All requests were rejected.
 
Second hearing, 19 September 2017: The prosecutor in the case was changed, as were the two secondary judges on the panel. The testimonies of the two witnesses, Nurettin Veren and an anonymous witness ‘Soğut’ were not excluded from the evidence, even though ‘Soğut’ failed to attend court and Veren had failed to attend a separate court hearing to be cross-examined by the Altans’ lawyers. Physical evidence, such as the one dollar bills found in Mehmet Altan’s property, were presented to the court. Ten defendants who had left the country were separated from the case. All defendants made requests to the court for release and acquittal. All requests were denied.
 
Third hearing, 13 November 2017: The prosecutor in the case was changed again. The parliament was accepted into the case as a co-plaintiff. Ergin Cinmen, lawyer for the Altans, requested all the evidence to be examined in court, including the cross examination of witnesses. He was expelled from the court for “disturbing the order of the court”. Each additional lawyer in the Altans’ legal team subsequently made the same request, in addition to asking for the judge to recuse himself for manifest bias and each was expelled. The hearing continued, with Ahmet Altan speaking via video-link from jail without legal representation in the court.
 
Fourth hearing, 11 December 2017: Both the Parliament and the Government were accepted again into the case as co-plaintiffs. The judge informed the court that Fevzi Yazıcı would not attend as he had been taken from jail to a police station for questioning under a separate investigation. His lawyer was not aware of his whereabouts.[5] The prosecutor presented his final opinion, which reduced the charges to only Article 309 “attempting to overthrow the constitutional order through violence and force”. The justification included evidence from the indictment not examined in court, including the witness statements which had been struck out of evidence at the second hearing. The Altans’ legal team repeated their request for all evidence to be examined by the court – a request which remained unanswered.
 
Final hearing, 12-16 February 2018: On the first day of the hearing after expelling two defense lawyers from the Court,  the judge moved the trial to Silivri prison. Defendants presented their final defence statements and lawyers presented their legal defences. The judge issued a final verdict of aggravated life imprisonment for all six detained defendants and acquittal for Tibet Sanliman. 
 
The Verdict
 
Aggravated life imprisonment is the most severe sentence under Turkish law, replacing the death penalty after its abolition in 2004. While life imprisonment is 24 years under Turkish law, aggravated life imprisonment indicates imprisonment until death; however after 30 years in prison the convicts will be eligible for parole on condition of good behaviour – not much relief for the Altans and Ilıcak who are already senior citizens.  Those convicted to aggravated life sentence also face harsher detention conditions, including solitary confinement for 23 hours per day, one phone call every 15 days to immediate family members (spouse, parents, children), visitation by immediate family for one hour every 15 days and no permission to leave under any circumstances.
 
Right to appeal
 
The defendants must now wait for the reasoned judgment to be issued, which by law must be issued within one month, before they can apply to the Regional Court of Appeals and then the Court of Cassation. Under Turkish law, they are not considered ‘convicted’ until the appeals process has been completed. Until then they are expected to remain under their current detention conditions. After the Court of Cassation they may further appeal to the Constitutional Court. And after exhausting these domestic remedies, they can apply for a second time to the European Court of Human Rights on the substance of the case.