Rabia Çetin
An Istanbul court on Monday ordered the release of jailed defendant Meral Tatar and ruled that five witnesses be brought to court by force in the latest hearing of a case in which 23 people, including ETHA editor İsminaz Temel, former reporter Havva Cuştan, and lawyer Sezin Uçar, are on trial on charges of "membership in a terrorist organization" and "terrorist propaganda."
The 33rd hearing in the case was held at the Istanbul 27th High Criminal Court. ETHA is a left-wing news agency that has faced repeated legal proceedings in Turkey.
The hearing began about 30 minutes late due to the court's heavy caseload. Journalists seeking to follow the proceedings were not allowed into the courtroom.
Lawyer Sezin Uçar, who is being held in custody in a separate case, did not attend the hearing. İsminaz Temel, Havva Cuştan, and lawyers representing the other defendants were present.
After the court completed the defendants' identity verification, defense lawyer Mustafa Taylan Savran, representing Meral Tatar, İlhan Aslan, Mehmet Arslan, and Doğukan Onur Gürsoy, argued that his client posed no flight risk and requested her release.
Lawyer İlknur Alcan, representing Özlem Gümüştaş, Sezin Uçar, Gülhan Kaya Ağaoğlu, and Ali Haydar Doğan, asked the court to suspend proceedings pending the outcome of an ongoing investigation involving Gümüştaş. She also requested that the court consider merging the case against Sezin Uçar with proceedings currently underway before the Istanbul 26th High Criminal Court.
In its interim ruling, the court ordered that arrest warrants previously issued for defendants İdil Özbek and Maksut Toprak remain in effect.
The court said it had decided to release Meral Tatar after finding that most of the evidence related to the alleged offense had already been collected, that there was no risk she would tamper with evidence or flee, that she had a fixed residence, and that pretrial detention is an exceptional and temporary protective measure.
The court imposed a judicial control measure barring Tatar from leaving the country and ordered her immediate release unless she is being held in custody or serving a sentence in connection with another offense.
The panel also granted defense lawyers additional time to submit their written defense statements on the merits of the case.
In addition, the court ordered that witnesses Mustafa Bozali, Ender Yalçın, Berfin Ayırkan, Onur Demir, and Mustafa Naci Toper be brought to the next hearing by force after they failed to appear.
The trial was adjourned until Dec. 8, 2026, at 10 a.m.
