The next hearing in the trial of 28 defendants, 18 of whom are imprisoned, on charges of being part of the media arm of the Fethullah Gülen network, which Turkey says is a terrorist organization and accuses of being behind the coup d’état attempt of 2016 will be heard on March 7.
The last hearing was held over two days on 22 and 23 February. Defendants submitted statements for the last time before the verdict.
A total of 13 suspects testified in the trial including former Bugün reporter Cihan Acar, Türk Solu magazine chief columnist Gökçe Fırat Çuhlhoğlu, Zaman reporters Habip Güler and Halil İbrahim Balta submitted their final statements. Former Haberdar journalist Ahmet Memiş, Zaman journalist Ali Akkuş, Aksiyon reporter Bünyamin Köseli, Meydan columnist Atilla Taş and former Subuo News editor-in-chief Muhammet Sait Kuloğlu, who were released pending trial, also testified in the trial.
Initially, there were 29 defendants, but in the 22-23 February hearing, the case of Emre Soncan, a Zaman defense correspondent,
Defendants mostly explained what they had meant in a certain tweet or article, highlighting the true character of the case as a free speech trial.
Cihan Acar noted that ten tweets he posted within two hours were included as evidence against him: "Will I still be accused if I could take those two hours out of my life?"
Other journalists argued that their articles only showed their support for the government.
The defendants include columnist Murat Aksoy, former singer and Meydan columnist Atilla Taş and Habertürk network’s former broadcasts coordinator Oğuz Usluer.
Abdullah Kılıç, a former news coordinator for the Habertürk newspaper, testified first. He said he had no ties to any terror group. He also read his tweets condemning the coup posted as the coup attempt occurred on 15 July 2016. He shared several articles and tweets criticizing the Fethullah Gülen network.
The case of former Zaman defense reporter Emre Soncan -- who now faces new charges in another case -- was separated in the hearing.
In the previous hearing, the prosecutor asked for prison terms of between 7.5 to 15 years for 24 of the of the suspects on charges of membership and again for up to 15 years in prison for three on charges of having aided a terrorist group without being its member.
Background of trial
In the first hearing of the trial on 31 March, 21 defendants were released from prison. However, the judges were swiftly suspended and eight were rearrested following a prosecutor’s objection to the release ruling -- now possible under a Cabinet decree. For the other 13, the prosecutors launched a new investigation which was later merged with this trial. The charges of “attempting to overthrow the government”, for which the punishment is a life sentence, were dropped later for all 13 and the initial accusation of “terror organization membership” remained in place for most of the suspects.
The prosecutor submitted his final opinion in a session in February.
The defendants for whom the prosecutor demands 7.5 to 15 years for terror organization membership are: Atilla Taş (Meydan newspaper), Bayram Kaya (Zaman newspaper) , Cemal Azmi Kalyoncu, Cihan Acar (Bugün newspaper), Emre Soncan (Zaman), Habip Güler(Zaman), Halil İbrahim Balta(Zaman), Hanım Büşra Erdal(Zaman), Ufuk Şanlı (Millet), Cuma Ulus (Habertürk), Mutlu Çölgeçen (Sabah) , Amet Memiş (Haberdar), Ünal Tanık (Rota haber news website) , Bünyamin Köseli (Aksiyon) , Davut Aydın, Muhammed Sait Kuloğlu, Yetkin Yıldız, Yakup Çetin (Zaman) , Seyit Kılıç, Mustafa Erkan Acar (Bugün), Hüseyin Aydın, Abdullah Kılıç (Habertürk newspaper), Ali Akkuş (Zaman) and Oğuz Usluer (Habertürk TV). For Murat Aksoy (Yeni Şafak, and later independent columnist) and Gökçe Fırat Çulhaoğlu (Türk Solu) the prosecutor asked for “aiding a terror organization without its membership”, which is also puınishable by between 7.5 to 15 years. Bülent Ceyhan, a former Habertürk employee, and Sait Sefa, the editor-in-chief of the Haberdar news website, are wanted as fugitives in the case.
The defendants are accused on the basis of their articles and tweets, although a few are also accused of using ByLock, a mobile application which the government links to affiliation with the Gülen network, which it calls as FETÖ/PYD, or the Fethullahist Terror Organization/Parallel State Structure.
