TRIAL CALENDAR
The CFWIJ diligently follows press freedom-related trials against women journalists. Click on a date below to learn more about each trial on that day.
TRIAL STATEMENTS
Coming up journalist trials in JANUARY
January 6, 2022: Şehriban Abi, Nazan Sala, Zeynep Durgut
Şehriban Abi, Nazan Sala and Zeynep Durgut: The fourth hearing of Şehriban Abi, Nazan Sala and Zeynep Durgut will be held at Van 5th High Criminal Court. They remained behind bars for 175 days and released conditionally in their first appearance in court. Both journalists are facing terror charges over their journalistic activities. The prosecutor requested a sentence of up to 15 years in prison on the charge of being members of an armed terrorist organization. Journalist Nazan Sala also faces up to 13 years in jail for accusations of spreading terrorist propaganda through the press.
January 11, 2022: Sadiye Eser
The seventh hearing of the trial in which former MA reporter Sadiye Eser was tried on the charge of "being a member of an armed terrorist organization" will be held at the Istanbul 22nd High Criminal Court. Sadiye faces up to 15 years sentences in prison on terrorism charges. Sadiye was detained after leaving the MA’s office on November 29, 2019, and was arrested on December 2, 2019, over a charge of being a member of an armed terrorist organization", but was released conditionally at the first hearing which was held on March 26, 2020.
January 12, 2022: Ruken Demir
The eighth hearing of the trial against Mesopotamia Agency (MA) reporter Ruken Demir will be held at Izmir 19th High Criminal Court. The journalist, who was arrested on November 26, 2019, was released by the court's pending trial at the first hearing on March 6, 2020. Ruken was charged with being a member of an illegal organization due to her interviews. The journalist faces up to 15 years sentence in prison.
January 17, 2022: Meşale Tolu
The ongoing trial against journalist Meşale Tolu will be held on this day. The journalist is facing up to 25 years sentence in prison with the charges of spreading terrorist propaganda and being a member of a terrorist organization. She was arrested in April 2017 and was imprisoned for more than seven months. She had worked in Istanbul for the ETHA News Agency, among others. The trial against her began in October 2017, around two months later Tolu was released conditionally. In August 2018 she was allowed to return to her home country Germany after the ban of travelling abroad was lifted. The verdict is expected from the hearing.
January 21, 2022: Yasemin Çongar
The trial of former Taraf executive Yasemin Çongar including Ahmet Altan, Yıldıray Oğur and reporter Mehmet Baransu over the alleged publication of a secret military document called “Egemen operation plan” will continue on January 21, 2022. Yasemin faces up to 52 years sentence in prison over charges of "to destroy, misuse, fraudulently take or steal documents related to the security of the state," "to provide information that must remain confidential in terms of state security or domestic or foreign political benefits," and "for the security of the state or domestic or foreign political benefits of the state by disclosing information that should remain confidential due to its nature ".
January 26, 2022: Hatice Şahin, Derya Okatan
Hatice Şahin: Hatice Şahin was accused of having participated in organizational actions within the scope of the Democratic Society Congress (DTK) work. The journalist's travels between Istanbul and Diyarbakır between September and December 2017 were listed and being a member of the Free Women Congress Association was cited as evidence for the terror charges. The statement of anonymous witness against the journalist alleged that she attended illegal meetings in which some other journalists were also included. Another witness also claimed the journalist was the spokesperson of the media outlets related to the Union of Communities of Kurdistan (KCK). Hatice Şahin faces up to 15 years sentence in prison with the charges of being a member of an armed terrorist organization.
Derya Okatan: Ankara 4th High Criminal Court accepted the indictment from 2019, which was accusing journalist Derya Okatan on the charge of "spreading propaganda for an organization in a chain" over a report she covered about military action in 2018. If convicted, the journalist will be sentenced to eight years and nine months in prison. The second hearing of the case will be held on this day.
January 27, 2022: Buse Söğütlü, Reyhan Çapan
Buse Söğütlü: Gazete Yolculuk journalist (former student journalist at Cumhuriyet) Buse Söğütlü is facing terror charges over a tweet, quoting an article published from the newspaper. She faces bogus terrorist charges for criticizing the İstanbul’s court judge Akın Gürlek on social media. If convicted, the journalist may be sentenced in prison up to 13 years for "targeting those who took part in counter-terrorism". She will appear in court to defend herself this day for the fifth time.
Reyhan Çapan: Former managing editor of shut down Özgür Gündem, Reyhan Çapan, will appear in court over charges of spreading terrorist propaganda and spreading those propaganda through media outlets. The 20th hearing of the trial will be held in İstanbul.
