Turkey: CFWIJ Demands Authorities To End Legal Harassment Against Buse Söğütlü

Location: Turkey
Date: September 14, 2021

Available in: 🇹🇷  Türkçe

The fourth hearing of the trial against Gazete Yolculuk reporter Buse Söğütlü on terrorism charges was held today. The prosecution presented its opinion of the case and demanded Buse be sentenced for the crime of "targeting those who took part in the fight against counter-terrorism". Upon the request of the defence, the court adjourned the trial until January 27, 2022. The Coalition For Women In Journalism (CFWIJ) condemns the prosecution’s request on baseless charges against the journalist. We demand the Turkish judiciary to dismiss all the charges that Buse faces. We reiterate once again, journalism is not a crime.

Gazete Yolculuk’s Buse Söğütlü appeared in the Istanbul 23rd High Criminal Court to defence herself against terrorism charges she faces over her Twitter post criticizing the judge of Istanbul 37th High Criminal Court, Akın Gürlek. Today’s hearing, the prosecution of the trial presented its opinion to the court demanding the journalist to be sentenced for the crime of "targeting those who took part in the fight against counter-terrorism". Upon the request of the defence, the court adjourned the trial until January 27, 2022. 

An investigation was launched against the journalist at Cumhuriyet Newspaper, over her Twitter post criticizing the judge of Istanbul 37th High Criminal Court. The subject matter of the accusation was Buse’s tweet, quoting an article published at Gazete Yolculuk, where she works, and saying “If Hitler came out of his grave and (…) sat in his chair, more or less, he would use the same phrases as well. Professional ethics and all aside; one should carry the weight of the chair he is sitting in.” The judge had ordered the lawyers standing before trial “to stop talking to each other or that he would change their seats”.

The journalist, through this post, was claimed to have “put the aforementioned judge in the target of armed terrorist organisation DHKP-C and other marginal leftist organisations”. She is facing up to 13 years sentence in prison over the charges of “identifying officials on anti-terror duties as targets” and “being affiliated with an armed terrorist organisation” if convicted. 

In the previous hearing, the case came to the light that the journalist was not affiliated with any terrorist organization as a result of the files from the counterterrorism unit. However, although there is no element of crime in the indictment prepared against Buse, the court ordered the journalist to prepare an additional defence for "insulting the public official" this time. 

Buse took to her Twitter account yesterday to explain which baseless charges she came across and how the unfair judgement is processed. “Despite the reports sent in accordance with the court's decision, Akın Gürlek insisted that I be tried under the counter-terrorism code. Since these unlawful reports were requested, he should have respected the reports of these three state institutions,” she quoted. She also included that the trial was unfairly conducted and she will fully follow her rights in this matter.

Although the travel ban was lifted in previous cases against Buse Söğütlü, the police did not return the journalist's passport. The journalist, therefore, lost her right to participate in the ECPMF's JiR scholarship program in Leipzig on August 2. 

Buse shared on her Twitter account about the passport rejection and questioned the authorities about the actual reason behind the passport denial.

Görünen o ki mahkemenin kararına uygun şekilde gönderilmiş lehime raporlara rağmen Akın Gürlek, TMK kapsamında yargılanmam konusunda ısrarcıydı. Madem bu hukuksuz raporlar istenmişti, o halde Akın Gürlek bari devletin bu üç kurumunun raporlarına saygı gösterseydi.

— Buse Söğütlü (@busesogutlu) September 13, 2021

"In the Vatan Police Department and Provincial Registry office it was said that it would be asked to the 23rd High Criminal Court, in which I am put on a trial for criticising Akın Gürlek, for the verdict too. It has been confirmed by my lawyer that no paper was written by the Police Department to any court I am on trial including 23rd High Criminal Court. At this stage, in this process which they submit as “the official procedure” how is the intercommunication procedure? Or else, since it is Akın Gürlek in question in the trial, has the verdict been reached with commands that came from above?”

Previously, the journalist told CFWIJ that the indictment of the case has huge deficiencies in terms of both technical and content. When she underlined the press freedom in Turkey, “Almost every day, more than one journalist is on trial for various reasons. This case is also part of this process. Almost every file is enlarged and has the quality of stating the hadith or sending a message to journalists,” she said. 

Here, I explained how my right to education and travel has been usurped by an unjustified decision regarding my passport, despite the fact that there has been no travel ban on me since 2017. @RSF_en @CFWIJ @globalfreemedia @ECPMF @mlsaturkey https://t.co/WFxTP80PxB pic.twitter.com/XtkScyE9oA

— Buse Söğütlü (@busesogutlu) September 15, 2021

The Coalition For Women In Journalism condemns the prosecution request on baseless charges against Buse. We demand the Turkish judiciary to dismiss all charges of the journalist. We urge the Turkish authorities to respect the criteria for freedom of expression and press freedom. We demand the Turkish state to end prosecuting journalists solely for doing their jobs. Journalists are obliged to write the truth and cannot be prosecuted.

The Coalition For Women In Journalism closely monitors the incidents in Turkey with great concern. Since March 8, Women's Day, police violence against women journalists increasingly continues in the country. As the coalition, we urge the Turkish state to provide a free environment for journalists. Following the news is our most fundamental democratic right to report. We demand the immediate release of our detained colleagues. Journalism is not a crime. Journalism cannot be prevented.

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