The first hearing in the trial of journalists Gözde Şeker and İbrahim Kahveci, who face charges following a complaint filed by Devlet Bahçeli, leader of Turkey’s Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), was held, with the court adjourning proceedings until Nov. 4.
Lawyers for the journalists, who had previously given statements under judicial instructions, said they would not submit additional defense statements. The court adjourned the hearing after the prosecutor requested more time to prepare a final opinion on the case.
Büşra Genel
The first hearing in the trial of journalists Gözde Şeker and İbrahim Kahveci over remarks about Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli during the Kırmızı Çizgi (Red Line) program broadcast on Halk TV was held at Ankara's 52nd Criminal Court of First Instance.
Kahveci's lawyer, Zeynep Eroğlu, and Şeker's lawyer, Emine Bozyörük, attended the hearing, which began about 30 minutes late. The lawyers said they had nothing to add to the statements the journalists had previously given under judicial instructions.
The court adjourned the hearing until 10:50 a.m. on Nov. 4 after the prosecutor requested additional time to prepare a final opinion on the case.
Background of the case
Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli filed a criminal complaint through his lawyer on June 12, 2024, over remarks made by Şeker and Kahveci about Bahçeli and the MHP during an episode of Kırmızı Çizgi (Red Line), a program Şeker was hosting on Halk TV at the time.
According to an indictment issued by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office on Oct. 14, 2024, the journalists' comments during the June 2024 broadcast included statements that prosecutors alleged were damaging to Bahçeli's honor, dignity and reputation. The indictment accused Şeker and Kahveci of publicly insulting and slandering Bahçeli by unlawfully attributing a specific act of wrongdoing to him.
In her statement to prosecutors on Aug. 14, 2024, Şeker denied the allegations, saying she had acted in accordance with journalistic principles. Kahveci, in his statement on Sept. 17, 2024, said his comments were protected under freedom of thought and expression and were not directed at any particular individual.
The journalists' remarks came after a June 11, 2024, speech by Bahçeli at a parliamentary group meeting of the MHP in Turkey's Grand National Assembly. During the speech, Bahçeli addressed the murder of Sinan Ateş, a former leader of the MHP-affiliated nationalist youth organization known as the Grey Wolves, and the controversy surrounding the killing.
Indictment returned four times
The indictment prepared against the journalists following Bahçeli's complaint was returned four times by three different courts on various grounds.
The indictment was first reviewed by Ankara's 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance, which returned it on the grounds that the case did not involve a press offense and should instead be heard under general criminal law provisions.
Ankara's 52nd Criminal Court of First Instance, to which the case was subsequently referred, noted that no report had been obtained from the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK), Turkey's broadcasting regulator. The court also found that the indictment failed to distinguish between statements made by Şeker and Kahveci or specify which remarks constituted alleged "slander" and which amounted to "insult."
The indictment was revised and sent to another court, which returned it on the grounds that the case should be referred back to the court that had previously rejected it.
The case was then sent back to Ankara's 52nd Criminal Court of First Instance. Although the RTÜK report had been added to the case file, the court returned the indictment once again on March 4, citing the continued failure to specify which statements formed the basis of each charge.
The prosecutor resubmitted the indictment without making any changes nearly a year later. Ankara's 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance accepted the indictment on March 5, 2026, and issued a judicial request to Istanbul's Anatolian 38th Criminal Court of First Instance to obtain the journalists' defense statements.
