Gazete Yolculuk correspondent Buse Söğütlü is facing a criminal prosecution due to her tweet criticizing Akın Gürlek, the presiding judge the 37th Heavy Criminal Court of İstanbul where the judicial proceedings of most of the prominent political trials has been concluded recently, for allegedly marking a counterterrorism officer as a target, under Anti-Terror Law. She was taken into custody back on November 10, 2019 within the related investigation and was detained for two days. She has tweeted “I assume that Hitler would have formed the same sentences if he had stepped up from his coffin and presided these proceedings. Leaving professional ethic aside, a person should take the responsibility of her/his job.
The first hearing of the trial will be held on October 14, 2020, by İstanbul 23rd Heavy Criminal Court.
At the first hearing held on October 14, 2020, the court heard the defense of Söğütlü and sent the case file to the prosecutor for the preparation of the opinion as to the accusations. The next hearing will be held on December 30, 2020 (October 14).
At the hearing held on December 30, 2020, the court requested a report from the Security Directorate and the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) as to whether Söğütlü had any links with the organization or was engaging in an organizational activity. The next hearing will be held on March 24, 2021 (December 30).
At the hearing held on March 24, the trial of Buse Söğütlü, charged with “marking a counterterrorism official as a target” over a Twitter post dated March 18, 2019, was adjourned as the two separate boards of the İstanbul 23rd High Criminal Court were merged. The next hearing will be held on April 14 (March 24).
At the hearing held on April 14, the court board ruled that the file should be sent to the prosecutor’s office for the preparation of the opinion as to the accusations. The board also requested additional defense from Söğütlü on charge of “insulting a public official”, which was not a charge pressed in the indictment. The next hearing will be held on September 14 (April 14).
At the hearing held on September 14, 2021, the prosecutor pronounced the opinion as to the accusations and demanded that Buse Söğütlü be penalized for “marking a counterterrorism official as a target”. Söğütlü requested time to prepare her defense as to the accusations. Accepting this request, the court board adjourned the hearing until January 27, 2022 (September 14).
As the presiding judge of the court board changed, the hearing scheduled for January 27, 2022 was adjourned until February 3 (January 27).
At the 7th hearing of the case held on February 3, 2022, the court board ruled that journalist Buse Söğütlü should be acquitted of the charged offense of “marking a counterterrorism official as a target” (February 3).
