Reporting on citizens thrown from a helicopter, journalists acquitted a year later

Click to read the article in Turkish

Having served 6 months behind bars for reporting on Osman Şiban and Servet Turgut, who had been thrown from a helicopter by soldiers in Van, journalists Adnan Bilen, Cemil Uğur, Şehriban Abi, Nazan Sala and Zeynep Durgut had their final hearing today (January 6).

Put on trial for reporting on torture in the Kurdish-majority eastern province of Van, all journalists have been acquitted of "membership of a terrorist organization" by the Van 5th High Criminal Court. Sala is given a deferred prison sentence of 1 year, 3 months for "terror propaganda."

The hearing was attended by journalists Adnan Bilen, Cemil Uğur and Nazan Sala as well as their lawyers while the other journalists were not present in the courtroom as they had offered an excuse.

Charges against Sala date back to 2007

Nazan Sala made the following statement about the file of the case opened in 2007 and merged with the current case file:

"I would like to attract attention to the dates in the indictment. The date of the offense charged is 2007. I was working as a freelance journalist in Van at that time. I was reporting news when I was called by other channels including the [state channel] TRT. So, I was doing journalism.

"I do not have any organic ties with the television channel mentioned in the indictment. Channels would call me while I was working as a freelance journalist and they would ask me to report news. I would go live when not only Roj TV but other channels called me, too."

Sala's lawyer Ekin Yeter also reiterated that the date of the offense charged was 2007 and even a statement had not been taken by then.

Yeter noted that the indictment did not share details about how Sala went live on Roj TV or about the content of the news. "There is an attempt to extend the scope of the file," the lawyer underlined.

Prosecutor demanded acquittal of 'membership'

Following the statements of Nazan Sala and her lawyer Ekin Yeter, the prosecutor of the hearing presented the final opinion as to the accusations and demanded the journalists' acquittal of "membership of a terrorist organization". The prosecutor also demanded that Nazan Sala be penalized on charge of "terror propaganda", the offense charged in the main file.

Making defense as to the accusations, Sala said that the related posts did not belong to her, she was tagged by others and demanded acquittal.

'Social media' defense by Sala

Sala's lawyers took the floor afterwards and said that they agreed with the prosecutor's request for acquittal of Sala, adding that she should be acquitted of "propagandizing for a terrorist organization" as well.

Veysi Atay, another lawyer for Sala, said, "There is no crime element in the social media posts. The client was tagged in these posts. The news that she posted was published in different websites and there is no access block on these news stories. She did not produce them, she was just tagged. It is against the law to consider that these posts belong to her."

Acquittal of membership, penalty for propaganda

Pronouncing its ruling following the statements of defense, the court board has ruled that all journalists shall be acquitted of "membership of a terrorist organization". However, Sala has been sentenced to 1 year, 3 months in prison on charge of "propagandizing for a terrorist organization". The announcement of the verdict has been deferred.

What happened?

Mezopotamya Agency (MA) reporters Adnan Bilen and Cemil Uğur, Jinnews reporter Şehriban Abi and journalist Nazan Sala were arrested in October 2020 on the grounds that they reported it with documents that two citizens, Servet Turgut and Osman Şiban, detained by soldiers in Çatak district in Van province, were thrown from a helicopter.

Detained in a raid on October 6, 2020 and arrested shortly afterwards, journalists were charged with "membership in a terrorist organization" because "they reported on social incidents against the state."

According to the minutes of the court that ruled for their arrest, the reason why the journalists were considered to "have reported on social incidents against the state" was that they covered the incident where the villagers had been thrown from the helicopter.

In the ruling of arrest given for the journalists it was said, "... they engaged in agitation and propaganda; their press cards are not officially valid and, therefore, they are not press members; they reported news of burglary about the possessions protected inside the building and criticizing, degrading and aiming to smear the Republic of Turkey's methods and activities of counterterrorism; they reported news on social incidents against the state..."

Being treated in the intensive care unit for days, Servet Turgut lost his life after the incident. The Van Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, conducting the investigation into the incident, imposed a confidentiality order on the file as well as a publication and broadcast ban on the issue on October 1.

Held in the Van T Type T Prison, the journalists were released at their hearing on April 2, 2021. (HA/SD)