A criminal complaint was filed against Doğan Ergün, the former Editor-in-Chief of İleri Haber news website, and İzel Sezer, the then Managing Director and the current Editor-in-Chief of İleri Haber, on charges of “publicly insulting” (as per the Article 125 of the Turkish Penal Code / TCK), “unlawful disclosure of data obtained by recording non-public conversations between people in the press” as per the Article 133 the Turkish Penal Code) and “libel” (as per the Article 267 of the Turkish Penal Code / TCK).
The reason for the lawsuit was cited as the news reports regarding the tweets making allegations of bargaining for bribes about Mustafa Doğan İnal, the former lawyer of President and ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The indictment was accepted by the İstanbul 33rd Criminal Court of First Instance.
Journalists face up to 11 years, 4 months in prison. The first hearing will be held on December 23, 2021 (December 7).
At the hearing held on December 23, 2021, the court accepted the complainant party’s request for intervening in the trial and ruled that the file at the İstanbul 13th Civil Court of First Instance and the investigation file at the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office should be requested. The next hearing will be held on March 10, 2022 (December 23).
At the hearing held on December 8, 2022, the prosecutor’s office presented the final opinion as to the accusations that it had submitted to the case file six days prior. The office requested that Ergün and Sezer be penalized for all offenses charged.
The lawyers of Ergün and Sezer requested time to make a statement as to the accusations. The court board accepted the request. The next hearing will be held on March 14, 2023 (December 8).
The Court of Appeal, Istanbul Regional Court of Justice 17th Criminal Chamber, overturned the prison sentence given to Ergün and Sezer under Article 133, stating that the news in question was within the scope of freedom of expression (June 26).
