JİNNEWS News Editor Öznur Değer and Osman Akın, a former managing editor of Yeni Yaşam newspaper, were sentenced to prison over news reports alleging that villagers were tortured during a 2024 raid on a home in Nusaybin, a district of Mardin province in southeastern Turkey near the Syrian border.
The court sentenced Değer to 1 year and 6 months in prison and Akın to 10 months.
MLSA — At the fifth hearing of the trial at the Mardin 2nd High Criminal Court, the public prosecutor sought the conviction of Değer and Akın on a charge of “targeting individuals who have taken part in counterterrorism operations.”
The prosecutor cited as grounds for the charge the publication by JİNNEWS, for which Değer was responsible, and Yeni Yaşam newspaper, for which Akın was responsible, of a photograph of Kamil Aksoy, the acting commander of the Kızıltepe District Gendarmerie, along with information about his service record and previous operations in which he had taken part.
The prosecutor also noted that both journalists had stated in their testimony that they were responsible for their respective news outlets and had published the news content in question.
Değer sentenced to 1 year, 6 months in prison
The court found Değer guilty of “targeting individuals who have taken part in counterterrorism operations” and sentenced her to 1 year and 6 months in prison under Article 6 of Turkey’s Anti-Terror Law No. 3713.
The court ruled that there were no grounds for a discretionary reduction in Değer’s sentence. It also declined to apply a deferment of the announcement of the verdict, known in Turkey by the acronym HAGB, citing her previous criminal conviction.
The court further ruled against suspending the prison sentence or converting it into an alternative sanction.
Akın sentenced to 10 months in prison
The court also sentenced Osman Akın to 1 year in prison on the same charge. His sentence was reduced by one-sixth, bringing it down to 10 months.
The court, however, granted Akın a deferment of the announcement of the verdict. Citing its conclusion that he was unlikely to commit another offense, the court ordered that he be placed under supervision for five years.
The case will be dismissed if Akın does not intentionally commit another crime during the supervision period, the court said.
Lawyers: Our clients were engaged in journalism
Değer’s lawyers, Erdal Kuzu and Berivan Orhan, said in their defense statements that a response from Milliyet newspaper submitted to the case file between hearings constituted new evidence in their client’s favor. They argued that the prosecutor should reconsider the case after it emerged that Aksoy’s identifying information had previously appeared in other news reports.
Kuzu said Değer had reported on allegations of torture and used information obtained from publicly available sources. He asked the court to acquit his client.
Orhan also said Değer had reported on a criminal complaint filed against Aksoy and argued that the news report should be regarded as part of legitimate journalistic activity. She also requested Değer’s acquittal.
The court rejected the lawyers’ request to recuse the judicial panel, saying the motion was intended to prolong the proceedings.
Case stems from news reports on torture allegations
The case stemmed from news reports published by JİNNEWS and Yeni Yaşam on July 16, 2024, alleging that villagers were tortured during a July 9, 2024, raid on a home in a rural area of Nusaybin, a district of Mardin province in southeastern Turkey near the Syrian border.
The reports said the Lawyers for Freedom Association (ÖHD) had filed a criminal complaint against Kamil Aksoy, the acting commander of the Kızıltepe District Gendarmerie.
Değer and Akın were indicted following an investigation launched after Aksoy filed a complaint.
The court said its reasoned judgment would be issued at a later date. The ruling can be appealed to the Diyarbakır Regional Court of Appeals within two weeks of formal notification.
