A decision was made in Özgür Gündem case

2020-02-14 15:53:58


	ISTANBUL - Decision is given in the case where the writers and managers of Özgür Gündem have been on trial. Özgür Gündem was closed by statuory decrees. The court decided for the acquittal of Necmiye Alpay, Aslı Erdoğan and Bilge Aykut. The files of Kemal Sancılı, Eren Keskin, İnan Kızılkaya and Zana Kaya is decided to be seperated and for Filiz Koçali and Ragıp Zarakolu another case file is decided to opened.

	 

	KESKİN: I HAVE A DEBT OF GRATITUDE TO MUSA ANTER AND FERHAT TEPE

	 

	Following the identification, the defendantS begin to state their defences. First, Eren Keskin is heard. Keskin said that she is not an "organization member", but a human rights defender. Stating that she never touched a weapon in her life, Keskin explained that she is being judged because she does not think in parallel with the state regarding Kurdish question, Armenian Genocide and Cyprus issue.

	 

	Keskin said, "When I was offered to be the editor in chief for the newspaper, I happily accepted this offer. If I accepted to be the editor in chief of this newspaper, it is because I have a debt of gratitude to names such as Musa Anter and Ferhat Tepe."

	 

	'THERE IS A PREJUDICE AGAINST öZGÜR GÜNDEM NEWSPAPER'

	 

	Newspaper's grant holder Kemal Sancılı said, "The charges are unrealistic, abstract, ordinary, superficial and rushed" regarding the accusations against him.

	 

	Sancılı stated to his defense: “Despite the fact that article 11 of the press law says 'the grant holder of the newspaper is not responsible for the published news and columns', I am held responsible for some reason. I have been in prison for more than 2 years due to this case. In addition, all my assets were confiscated, sold by TMSF and transferred to the state treasury. As if this was not enough, the company's debts were left to me. Currently, I have been surrounded by banks. There is a bias against Özgür Gündem Newspaper. For years, the decisions of the judiciary were disrupted by ECHR and resulted in compensation penalties. Why is the same attitude continues after many years? I hope the court will end this negative course with the decision they will make" 

	 

	'CLOSE WITNESS OF THE HISTORY OF TURKEY'

	 

	Former editorial director of the newspaper made a point on how Özgür Gündem Newspaper is the close witness, the defendant and account bringer of the history of Turkey. Kızılkaya continued his defense as follows: "As the solution process ends, the conflict has spread over the cities and what happens as a result of the security forces'unbalanced force in the civilian settlement areas were reflected in our pages. This broadcasting line has become the subject of reaction. There was a period when the prosecutors felt the need to open a new investigation on each new volume of the newspaper against all the reporters and editors.

	 

	JOURNALISM CAN NOT BE PUT ON TRIAL

	 

	Kızılkaya continued his statemenst as follows: "“There is neither a solid denial on any news nor an accusation that material evidence is distorted. On the contrary, the newspaper recorded the tragedy of the missing peace process in the history through its pages. In this regard, it is the comments, analyses, news and interviews, which are the subjects of accusations that do not have a logical basis or any concrete evidence. The accusation is on the hournalism activities aimed at informing the public and the reader about the current problems that the public is curious about. Closing newspapers and punishing journalists is to throw the future of a country into darkness. Journalism cannot be put on trial."

	 

	THERE IS NOT A SINGLE SOLID EVIDENCE

	 

	Then Zana Kaya is heard as she explains that she have been working for 15 years in journalism profession and Özgür Gündem shed light on everything that was going on in Turkey. Kaya said, "In the bill of indictment, there is no solid relation to the accusation of "organization". There is not a single solid evidence regarding our acts. It is not acceptable that just because the government is disturbed by our news we are put on trial."

	 

	'I WILL MAKE A DEFENCE AS IF THERE IS LAW'

	 

	Writer Aslı Erdoğan, who was abroad, presented her written defense to the court through his lawyer.

	 

	Reminding that civil casualities are documented also by the international resources during the curfews declared in Şırnak's Cizre and Diyarbakır's Sur district, Erdoğan said, “Killing people is a crime in every law. It is the heaviest crime in my opinion to cover up a crime by silencing the witnesses and to go beyond it.I invite the court to the justice and to the only place where my writings call for, that is the universal conscience."

	 

	After a short break,  the court board announced the decision. The court decided to separate the files of Filiz Koçali and Ragıp Zarakolu, who had a detention order against them and have not yet been taken statements. The court decided to seperate the files of Zana Kaya, İnan Kızılkaya, Kemal Sancılı and Eren Keskin. The court gave a decision of  acquital on behalf of other defendants, who are Necmiye Alpay, Bilge Aykut and Aslı Erdoğan.