The 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance in Istanbul sentenced Ayşe Batumlu, lawyer and columnist of Özgür Gündem newspaper, to 5 months of imprisonment for “provocation to commit an offence”. The prison sentence was suspended (29 March 2018).
The defendants’ (Hüseyin Aykol, Eren Keskin, Reyhan Çapan and Ayşe Batumlu ) retrial began after their sentencing for articles which appeared in the now-defunct Özgür Gündem newspaper was overturned by the 3rd Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation on June 6. The court stated that as per the decision to overturn by the Court of Cassation, all cases had been merged at the İstanbul 14th High Criminal Court and ruled to issue a writ to the 17th Criminal Chamber of the İstanbul Regional Court of Justice to inquire into the outcome of Ayşe Batumlu’s case with the İstanbul 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance and to request a copy of the verdict if it had become final. The trial was adjourned until 8 October 2024 (June 6).