Türkiye: 22nd hearing for RSF representative – the judicial harassment must stop

An overturned acquittal

In May 2016, Erol Onderoglu and about fifty other prominent figures took turns as symbolic daily guest editors of Ozgur Gündem (“Free Agenda”), a newspaper that is being prosecuted by the Turkish authorities. Due to the articles published during this support campaign, Onderoglu and two other guest editors, Sebnem Korur Fincanci And Ahmet Nesinare now being prosecuted for ‘terrorist propaganda’, ‘praising a crime or criminal’ and ‘condoning a crime’. These charges carry a maximum penalty of 14 years and six months in prison under Anti-Terrorism Law No. 3713 and the Turkish Penal Code.

Onderoglu and his co-defendants were initially acquitted in July 2019, at the end of a trial. first test characterized by numerous postponements. The decision was overturned in October 2020, a week after President Erdogan publicly attacked one of the co-defendants, Fincanci, claiming she was a “terrorist.” The Istanbul Court of Appeal rejected the symbolic nature of the campaign in support of the newspaper and ruled that the three cases should have been heard together with the case against the newspaper’s editor-in-chief. Inan Kizilkaya. In February 2021, the Istanbul Assize Court was ordered to resume the entire procedure, with the three co-suspects being tried on the same charges.

“I am deeply concerned that anti-terrorism laws are being widely used to silence Turkish human rights defenders and disrupt their legitimate work in defense of human rights,” warned UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders Mary Lawlor in June 2021, citing the cases of Onderoglu, Fincanci and Nesin, among others.

Request to dismiss biased judge denied

The court rejected the request for dissolution Judge Murat Bircan – who presides over the 13th chamber of the Istanbul Assize Court – for his very close ties to President Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP), filed by Onderoglu’s lawyers at the end of April 2024. The court is awaiting the statement of Nesin – who lives in France – and the testimony of Kizilkaya, who has been called as a witness.

The 13th Chamber of the Assize Court in Istanbul is the same chamber that sentenced philanthropist and activist Osman Kavala to life imprisonment and seven other environmental activists to 18 years in prison on April 25, 2022 for “attempts to destabilize the government”. The suspects were involved in an environmental protection movement around Gezi Park, near Taksim Square in Istanbul.

Erol Onderoglu, RSF’s representative in Turkey since February 1996, is a journalist and staunch defender of press freedom, who has received several international awards. His accuracy and fair reporting, recognized around the world, have made him a leading figure in Turkey.