Turkey: Reyhan Çapan, Former Özgür Gündem Colleagues Continue To Stand Trial On Terror-Related Charges For Now Shut Newspaper's 2016 Reports
Location: Turkey, Istanbul
Date: February 23, 2022Available in: 🇹🇷 Türkçe
The 22nd hearing of former managing editor Reyhan Çapan and other Özgür Gündem newspaper’s staffers adjourned on Wednesday as some of the defense lawyers could not appear before the court. The trial will continue at a later date, which is yet to be announced. The journalists stand trial for reports published in the since shuttered daily newspaper in March 2016 about self governance in Kurdish provinces.
The Coalition For Women In Journalism (CFWIJ) condemns the persistent legal harassment of Reyhan and other journalists associated with Özgür Gündem. We call on the Turkish authorities to quit weaponization of law against individual journalists to deter independent reporting.
Özgür Gündem’s former managing editor, Reyhan Çapan, its co-editor-in-chief, Hüseyin Aykol and daily’s reporters Hasan Başak and Kemal Yakut were accused of “spreading propaganda for a terrorist organization,” “provoking to commit an offense” and “praising an offense or an offender” for reporting about “self-governance” in Kurdish provinces in March 2016.
The prosecution has moved the court to convict Reyhan on the counts of “provocation to commit a crime” and “terrorist propaganda”. The prosecution has also sought conviction for Akyol, Başak and Yakut on charges of “provocation to commit a crime,” “praising an offender,” and “terrorist propaganda”.
On Wednesday, February 23, 2022, the İstanbul 13th High Criminal Court adjourned the 22nd hearing of the case as some of the defense lawyers were absent. The court accepted the exemption from hearing applications by the lawyers and adjourned the hearing indefinitely.
The Coalition For Women In Journalism condemns the legal ordeal the defendants are being put through for simply doing their job as journalists. We have observed a pattern of state-backed legal harassment of journalists to silence independent reporting in Turkey. In 2022 alone the CFWIJ has followed at least 27 cases filed against women journalists due to their work. We stand in solidarity with Reyhan Çapan and other former staffers of Özgür Gündem daily and denounce the charges against them. We call on Turkey to respect the freedom of the press and citizens’ right to information and allow journalists to do their work without fear of government retaliation.
The Coalition For Women In Journalism is a global organization of support for women journalists. The CFWIJ pioneered mentorship for mid-career women journalists across several countries around the world and is the first organization to focus on the status of free press for women journalists. We thoroughly document cases of any form of abuse against women in any part of the globe. Our system of individuals and organizations brings together the experience and mentorship necessary to help female career journalists navigate the industry. Our goal is to help develop a strong mechanism where women journalists can work safely and thrive.
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