This week several journalists will appear before judges. Below is a list of this week’s journalism and free speech trials:
November 27, Tuesday
- Hearing of the now-shuttered pro-Kurdish Dicle News Agency (DİHA) reporter Şerife Oruç will be held at Batman 2. High Criminal Court. Oruç who spent two years in pre-trial detention before being released on 27 July 2018, is charged with ‘membership in a terrorist organization’.
November 28, Wednesday
- Evrensel newspaper editor Çağrı Sarı will be on trial at Bakırköy 2. Criminal Court of First Instance at 11:10 AM. Sarı is charged with ‘insult and defamation’ due to his reports regarding the Paradise Papers leak.
November 29, Thursday
- Etkin News Agency (ETHA) reporters İsminaz Temel and Havva Cuştan’s hearing will be held at İstanbul 27. High Criminal Court. Temel and Cuştan were arrested along with 11 Socialist Party of the Oppressed (ESP) members in October 2017. Cuştan spent nine months in pre-trial detention before being released pending trial after the first hearing, whereas Temel remains imprisoned.
November 30, Friday
- Columnist, publisher and human rights activist Ragıp Zarakolu who has been living in Sweden since 2013, will be tried at İstanbul 3. High Criminal Court, on ‘aiding and abetting a terrorist organization’ charges.
