MEDIA MONITORING DATABASE
Journalist Haydar Ergül is standing trial for allegedly being a member of a terrorist organization
RELATED PERSON OR INSTITUTION
Haydar Ergül
CITY
Diyarbakır
YEAR OF INTERFERENCE
2017
LAST UPDATED
13/06/2024
TYPE OF STATEMENT
Political
MEDIUM
Print Media
Periodicals
THE TITLE OF WHOSE RIGHT IS INTERFERED
Journalist
RIGHTS GUARANTEED UNDER THE RIGHT OF FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Right to Impart Information and Ideas
TYPE OF INTERFERENCE
Judicial Interference
Criminal Courts
Approval of the indictment and initiating the prosecution
THE LEGAL GROUNDS FOR INTERFERENCE
Turkish Penal Code
Art. 314/2

Haydar Ergül was arrested by a police raid to his house on 28 July 2017 and is being tried for allegedly being a member of a terrorist organization. The prosecution is proceeding in front of İstanbul 22 Heavy Criminal Court.

At the ninth hearing of the case, the court decided to release five defendants and adjourned to December 26.

At the 10th hearing of the trial against 19 defendants on the charges of “PKK membership”, along with Haydar Ergül, the next trial will be held on May 14, 2020 for some defendants to make a statement regarding the report from the Forensic Medicine Institute (26 December).

The 23rd hearing of the “KCK Akademi” case was held on June 13, 2024 at the Istanbul 22nd High Criminal Court. The court stated that an indictment issued on April 17, 2024, for ‘membership in a terrorist organization’ based on the testimony of witness Ümit Akbıyık had been added to the existing case against Haydar Ergül, and asked Ergül for his defense regarding the merged case. Ergül said, “I do not know the witness, his statements are false. Demokratik Modernite is a legal magazine. I request my acquittal.” The court ruled to separate the files of Şeyma Kantarcı, an employee of the Jineoloji magazine, and Aysel Diler, a member of the HDP. The court sentenced Münevver İlingi to 6 years and 3 months in prison for the crime of “membership of an organization” and ruled to acquit the other defendants (June 13th).