10 December 2024
Journalist and TELE1 Editor-in-Chief Merdan Yanardağ is facing retrial on charges of “insulting the Turkish nation, the State of the Republic of Turkey, and the institutions and organs of the State” (Turkish Penal Code, Article 301) over his article titled “The Mafia-isation of the System” published in BirGün newspaper on 23 May 2021. Yanardağ had previously been sentenced to seven months and 15 days in prison in this case, but the verdict was overturned by the appellate court. The retrial began at the Istanbul 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance.At the first hearing on 10 December 2024, the prosecutor requested the journalist’s conviction. The trial will continue on 22 May 2025 at 14:30. (10 December)