- In hearings monitored this week, 10 defendants — including five journalists, one artist and one student — went on trial. Courts issued rulings in three cases and adjourned three others.
- Deniz Göktaş was sentenced to a total of one year, seven months and five days in prison and ordered released. A court ruled to continue the detention of journalist Merdan Yanardağ, while journalist Ali Çağatay was acquitted.
- Problems documented during hearings throughout the week included restrictions on access to courtrooms, inadequate and poorly ventilated hearing rooms, heavy security measures, interruptions while defendants were speaking, objections to witnesses testifying via SEGBİS, Turkey’s judicial videoconferencing system, and forms of address toward defendants that fell short of basic standards of courtesy.
- Prominent charges in this week’s cases included insulting the president and public officials, denigrating religious values, praising crime and criminals, inciting the public to hatred and hostility, membership in and propaganda for an organization, espionage, and publicly disseminating misleading information.
Ten defendants stood trial this week in hearings monitored by the Media and Law Studies Association, or MLSA. The defendants included five journalists, one artist and one student, while the case involving journalist Merdan Yanardağ also included a politician, a campaign director and a businessperson.
Cases heard during the week included prosecutions stemming from journalistic activities, social media posts and satirical content, as well as charges of “membership in an organization,” “propaganda for an organization” and “espionage.”
A verdict was issued at the first hearing in the trial of comedian Deniz Göktaş, who faced charges of “insulting the president,” “inciting the public to hatred and hostility or denigration,” and “praising crime and criminals.”
Göktaş was acquitted of “praising crime and criminals.” The court, however, reclassified the charge described in the indictment as “inciting the public to hatred and hostility or denigration” as “denigrating religious values” and sentenced him to seven months and 15 days in prison on that count. He was also sentenced to 11 months and 20 days for “insulting the president.”
Göktaş received a total prison sentence of one year, seven months and five days and was released after spending 88 days in pretrial detention. You can read the news report on the hearing here.
A verdict was also issued at the sixth hearing on Sept. 29 in the trial of ETHA reporter Züleyha Müldür and university student Simay Ada Kart, who were charged with “membership in an armed terrorist organization” and “making propaganda for an armed terrorist organization.”
The court sentenced Müldür and Kart to six years and three months in prison for “membership in an armed terrorist organization.”
In Müldür’s defense statement, she objected to actions she considered part of her journalistic work and the exercise of her democratic rights being treated as criminal conduct. Her lawyer also sought her acquittal, saying the Constitutional Court had found unlawful the “virtual patrol” method used to scan social media accounts.
Züleyha Müldür sentenced to six years and three months in prison.
Three witnesses testified via SEGBİS, Turkey’s judicial videoconferencing system, at the third hearing on Sept. 29 in the espionage case against journalist Merdan Yanardağ, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, Necati Özkan and Hüseyin Gün.
Yanardağ denied allegations that he had been given money. His lawyers objected both to the witnesses being heard via SEGBİS and to their testimony, and requested his release.
The court ordered that all defendants remain in pretrial detention and adjourned the hearing until Dec. 23, 2026.
Witnesses testify in Merdan Yanardağ case.
At the fourth hearing on Oct. 1 in the trial of Swedish journalist Kaj Joakim Medin on charges of “membership in an organization” and “making propaganda for an organization,” the court decided to send a new request after a translation error emerged in the procedures for obtaining his defense statement.
In the sworn translation carried out in Sweden, the Turkish expression for “taking a statement” was mistranslated as “extradition.” The procedures for obtaining Medin’s defense statement will therefore be repeated.
The hearing was adjourned until Jan. 5, 2027.
Translation error emerges in Kaj Joakim Medin case.
Journalist Ali Çağatay was acquitted at the second hearing on Oct. 1 in a case stemming from a social media post referring to “moles within the police” in connection with the abduction of Erhan Karaal, deputy general manager of İBB Kültür A.Ş., a cultural subsidiary of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality.
Çağatay had been charged with “publicly disseminating misleading information” and “publicly denigrating the state’s military or security organization.”
No verdict was issued at the 15th hearing on Sept. 28 in the trial of journalist Deniz Yücel, who is charged with “insulting a public official” over a social media post about the prosecutor who prepared the indictment against Osman Kavala.
The hearing, held at the Ankara 18th Criminal Court of First Instance in Turkey’s capital, was adjourned until Jan. 18, 2027. The court ordered that outstanding deficiencies in the case file be completed.
Findings on the right to a fair trial
Monitoring forms from this week’s hearings documented concerns related to the right to a fair trial, particularly regarding access to hearings, courtroom conditions, security measures and whether the defense was heard effectively.
At Deniz Göktaş’s hearing, observers and journalists reportedly faced obstacles entering the courtroom, while heavy security measures were in place around the courthouse. The courtroom was described as small and poorly ventilated, and participants had difficulty hearing what the parties were saying. The judge was also reported to have interrupted Göktaş while he was speaking.
At Merdan Yanardağ’s hearing, a large number of law enforcement officers were deployed as part of heightened security measures. The defense objected to witnesses being heard via SEGBİS, Turkey’s judicial videoconferencing system, and it emerged that one witness read from a paper containing a statement he had previously given. The judge was also reported to have addressed the defendant using the informal second-person pronoun “sen,” rather than the more formal form of address typically used in court.
Taken together, these findings point to concerns over whether hearings can be observed openly by the public and independent monitors, whether courtroom conditions are adequate, whether the parties are heard effectively, and whether impartiality and procedural safeguards are maintained throughout proceedings.
Other developments this week
One of the week’s main developments was the detention and subsequent arrest of journalist Fatih Ergin. Ergin, news coordinator at Nefes, was detained over a news post on suspicion of “publicly disseminating misleading information.” Article 218 of the Turkish Penal Code, which provides for increased penalties when certain offenses are committed through the press or other forms of publication, was also added to the case file. Ergin was later placed in pretrial detention.
A new case was also filed against journalist Öznur Değer on allegations of “making propaganda for an organization in a successive manner.” In the indictment prepared by the Van Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, in eastern Turkey, retweets and quoted posts of news reports from Değer’s now-closed X account were cited as evidence against her.
Journalist Alican Uludağ was charged with “publicly disseminating misleading information” after sharing an expert report on a building collapse in Gebze, an industrial district east of Istanbul, that killed four people. Prosecutors are seeking a prison sentence of up to five years and three months.
Another major development was an access-blocking and closure order targeting T24. As part of an investigation by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office known as “Ailem Güvende,” or “My Family Is Safe,” the Istanbul 1st Criminal Judgeship of Peace ordered measures against the T24 online news portal and its social media accounts.
Thirteen journalism organizations issued a joint statement saying the decision violated press freedom and freedom of expression and called for it to be reversed. MLSA was among the 13 organizations that criticized the access-blocking order against T24.
Assessments published during the week also examined how access-blocking measures affect the ability of journalists and news organizations to reach readers. Professors Yaman Akdeniz and Ceren Sözeri, information technology lawyer Gökhan Ahi and soL Haber Editor-in-Chief Yiğit Günay said such restrictions increasingly target not only news reports and websites, but also the social media accounts through which news reaches audiences.
Journalist Tuğba Tekerek also shared reflections on her detention in a message sent from Sincan Women’s Closed Prison in Ankara. Tekerek said her days in prison had not been easy, but that she viewed the experience as an opportunity to learn about another aspect of life.
