A lawsuit was filed against journalist Oktay Candemir on charge of “propagandizing for a terrorist organization”. The videos and photographs in his digital materials seized in a house raid on April 4, 2019 and some of his social media posts in 2014-2015 were cited as criminal evidence. The images captured by Candemir while he was covering the meetings and demonstrations of the Democratic Society Party (DTP) in Ağrı, Kars and Iğdır in 2005-2019 for news were also cited as crime elements in the indictment accepted by the Van 5th High Criminal Court. The first hearing of the trial will be held on June 17, 2021 (April 8).
At the hearing held on June 17, 2021, Candemir stated that the related social media posts were within the frame of journalistic activities. Noting that his posts did not have any propaganda purposes, Candemir requested his acquittal. Following the defense statements, the court board ruled that the case file should be sent to the prosecutor’s office for the opinion as to the accusations. The next hearing will be held on September 23 (June 17).
At the hearing held on September 23, 2021, the court board ruled that the content of the social media posts and news reports, which were the subject matter of the court case, should be requested from the security directorate. The next hearing will be held on November 18 (September 23).
At the hearing held on November 18, 2021, the prosecutor demanded that journalist Oktay Candemir be acquitted. The court board ruled that Candemir should be acquitted (November 18).
