29 May 2025

Journalist and academic Nuray Mert was acquitted at the first hearing of the trial, where she was charged with “membership in a terrorist organization.” The charge was based on a photograph taken in Syria in 2014.

At the hearing held before the Istanbul 25th High Criminal Court, Mert and her lawyers Aslı Kazan and Erselan Aktan were present. In her defense, Mert stated that she had joined the 2014 visit in her capacity as a journalist and academic, saying, “I was there for my work. The photograph was taken in that context.”

Lawyer Aslı Kazan argued that the photograph had been misinterpreted and that the visit was an open, publicly known observation trip, emphasizing that her client was performing her professional duty. Lawyer Erselan Aktan cited Article 314 of the Turkish Penal Code and the consistent jurisprudence of the Court of Cassation, the Constitutional Court, the ECtHR, and the Venice Commission, stressing that a single photograph and unlawfully obtained evidence cannot form the basis of a membership charge.

The prosecutor requested acquittal, and the court acquitted Mert, lifting her international travel ban.