Şahin Alpay: I Exercised My Freedom of Expression

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The first hearing in the trial of Zaman Daily, in which 31 media employees including closed Zaman daily's former writers and employees Şahin Alpay, Ali Bulaç, Mümtazer Türköne, Ahmet T. Alkan, Nuriye Akman and Mustafa Ünal are standing trial was held yesterday (September 18).

Of the defendants detained on remand, Şahin Alpay said, “I am innocent. I just exercised my freedom of expression secured by the Constitution and the European Court of Human Rights”.

Some highlights from the statements of Alpay are as follows:

Alpay: "If there is anyone violating the law, they should get the punishment they deserve"

"I got to know both the AKP (Justice and Development Party) and the Gülen Movement with their faces presented to the public. My knowledge regarding the Gülen Movement is based on media outlets, my visits to the schools of the organization in the country and abroad as well as some of the meetings of Abant Platform I attended. This is what I used to think and write about the claims regarding the non-transparent face of Gülen Movement which was not presented to the public:

"If there are people in this organization who, as claimed, violate the law, take orders from people other that their superiors, get involved in illegal actions, they should definitely be prosecuted, be brought to a fair trial and get the punishment they deserve. But accusing the Gülen Movement in gross, as a collective and making them the scapegoat for every evil in society is both against logic and the law, I think".

"My disappointment with the AK Party started with the 2011 elections"

"My disappointment with the AK Party started with the 2011 elections. Giving up the democratic policies it pursued in the first two terms, the AK Party government has increasingly headed towards an authoritarian and arbitrary 'strongman' regime.

"It had drifted away from the EU criteria and 'zero problems with the neighbors' policy, and I also started to write critical pieces against the AK Party government. However, I've held Prime Minister Erdoğan and his close circle accountable for the wrongdoings, not the whole party. I called for the party to return to its previous policies".

"My disappointment with the Gülen movement began with July 15"

"My disappointment with the Gülen movement began with the July 15, 2016 coup attempt. Let me admit that I wasn't aware until that day that the movement had a dark face. The indications that some Gülen movement members being involved in the coup attempt in this or that way have shocked me as a liberal democrat person who has written and spoken against coups and military guardianship".
"If it had occurred to me that Gülen members would take part in a coup, I would have never written at Zaman daily.

"I condemn the July 15 coup attempt; thus I regret writing at Zaman. I erred very badly in not being able to see the dark face of this movement".

"I have never become a member of a religious organization"

"I would first like to state that I have nothing to do with the charges pressed against me. I have never become a member of a religious community or group.

"Likewise, I have never become a member of an illegal terror organization due to my democratic and peaceful opinions.

"The organizations of which I am a member are as follows: I am a member of the Political Sciences Association of Turkey, Journalists' Association of Turkey and Press Council. I am a founding member of the Social and Economic Studies of Turkey. I am a member of board of trustees of the Economic and Social Studies Foundation of Turkey. In addition to the domestic and foreign public, I am sure the state's intelligence organizations know very well that I am a liberal political scientist who favor liberties.

"The indictment addresses seven of my articles dated between December 19, 2013-March 29, 2014 published in Zaman as the evidence of the crimes attributed to me. No investigation has been launched into these articles that I wrote 3-4 years ago.

"In my opinion, the articles the indictment has addressed are not the proof of the crimes I allegedly committed; on the contrary, they prove my innocence".

"My detention has turned into punishment"

"I have always lived up to the constitutional order, democracy and the state of law that is an inseparable part of it in all my speeches and articles. My criticisms against the AK Party government have never crossed the lines of the freedom of expression that are drawn by human rights treaties and constitution.

"On the contrary, they were penned with the belief that freedom of expression is assured in Turkey. No prosecution has been carried out into any of my articles or speech. I have been in custody for 14 months. My detention has turned into punishment. The European Court of Human Rights immediately accepted my application concerning my unlawful detention and posed questions to the Ministry of Justice to be responded to before October 4, 2017. I didn't commit any of the crimes that were attributed to me in the indictment".

"I exercised my freedom of expression"

"I am innocent. I only exercised my freedom of expression secured by the Constitution and the European Court of Human Rights. I believe that I will be cleared of blame and I demand an acquittal. I hope that I pre-trial detention. I have no other expectation in life than spending the rest of my time with my family.

"Four of the eight writers who are standing trial with me are serving pre-trial detention. We know that the suspects above age 70 are serving pre-trial detention in similar cases. I hope you will grant me this right as well".

What happened?

Following the coup attempt on July 15, 2016, operations began against media organizations known to be affiliated with the Gülen Community and tens of journalists and media employees were taken into custody.

Osman Nuri Öztürk, Süleyman Sargın, Şeref Yılmaz, Ahmet Metin Sekizkardeş, Alaattin Güner, Faruk Akkan, Mümtazer Türköne, Şahin Alpay, Ahmet Turan Alkan, Lale Kemal, Ali Bulaç, Sedat Yetişkin, Murat Avcıoğlu, Yüksel Durgut, Zafer Özsoy, Cuma Kaya, Hakan Taşdelen, Osman Nuri Arslan and Nuriye Ural were taken into custody during the first wave of detentions on September 27, 2016.

(EA/BK/DG/TK)