Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office Terror and Organized Crimes Investigation Bureau prepared an indictment against bianet human rights editor and journalist Ayça Söylemez based on a complaint by Deputy Justice Minister Akın Gürlek, which was accepted by Istanbul 29th High Criminal Court.
The indictment stated that “It is obligatory to limit freedom of expression in order to protect the public and the state” and demanded a prison sentence of 1 to 3 years for Söylemez on the charge of “marking a counterterrorism official as a target”
The grounds for the lawsuit were the article titled ‘Mr. Talented judge’ that Söylemez wrote in BirGün on February 18, 2020. In the article, Söylemez wrote that Akın Gürlek, who was then the president of the heavy criminal court in Istanbul, was trying journalist Canan Coşkun, CHP Istanbul Provincial Chair Canan Kaftancıoğlu, former HDP Co-Chair Selahattin Demirtaş, Turkish Medical Association (TTB) President Şebnem Korur Fincancı, Contemporary Lawyers Association (ÇHD) member lawyers, Peace Academics and Sözcü newspaper executives, writers and employees.
As part of the investigation launched into the article published three years ago, Söylemez went to the police on June 22, 2023 and gave a statement. He said that Gürlek was known to the public because of the cases he had tried and that his name was newsworthy.
Stating that the content of the article did not mention the name of any organization, Söylemez said, “The cases he has handled and the decisions made as a result of these cases are already public information.For this reason, it cannot be said that I made Akın Gürlek the target of any organization. As a result, the column in question was written by me as a journalist in order to inform the public and within the framework of freedom of the press and freedom of expression.”
Istanbul 29th High Criminal Court accepted the indictment. The first hearing will be held on November 22 (July 27).
At the November 22 hearing, the prosecutor presented his final opinion and demanded that Söylemez be sentenced for the charges against him. The next hearing is scheduled for March 19 (November 22).
