Turkey: Sözcü Journalist Çiğdem Toker Is Sued For Compensation Over Her Newspiece Exposing Misuse Of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Funds
Location: Turkey, Istanbul
Date: September 24, 2020Available in: 🇹🇷 Türkçe
Second hearing of the trial against Sözcü columnist Çiğdem Toker over her article alleging transfer of funds from Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality to “GONGO”s close to the President’s family was held today in Istanbul Küçükçekmece 3rd Civil Court of First Instance.
According to the article, in the said report, the municipality provided a balance sheet of its cash and in-kind support up until the year 2018 to NGOs such as Ensar Foundation, Turkey Youth and Education Service Foundation (TÜRGEV), Turkish Youth Foundation (TÜGVA) and Turkish Technology Team Foundation (T3 Foundation), all known to be close to the government and some of which are managed by the President’s relatives. Çiğdem Toker is being sued for 80 thousand Turkish Lira in compensation.
Based on this report, Çiğdem Toker indicated in her article that “up until 2018, the municipality provided 74.3 million TL in support to TÜGVA, 51.6 million TL to TÜRGEV, 41.4 million TL to T3 Foundation, 29.8 million TL to Ensar Foundation.”
Following the publication of the article, on February 12th, 2019, T3 Foundation’s lawyers Abdullah Demircan and Serkan Kaya submitted a petition of complaint to İstanbul Küçükçekmece Civil Court of First Instance asking for claim for their damages. The petition also remarked, “It is necessary to question the patriotism of the journalist who penned this article and the editors who published her article.”
During the hearing held today the court asked for witness statements and more documents to be collected and adjourned the hearing to October 15, 2020.
The Coalition For Women In Journalism condemns that the journalist is being sued over fulfilling her journalistic duty to inform the public. Claims of compensation for moral damages is one of many ways those who want to silence and oppress the press in Turkey use. Last month, imprisoned journalist Müyesser Yıldız was sentenced to pay 20 thousand Turkish Liras in compensation over allegations of “insulting the Minister of Defence”. We demand the judicial authorities to respect the public's right to information and freedom of expression and drop charges against Çiğdem Toker. ...
The Coalition For Women In Journalism is a global organization of support for women journalists. The CFWIJ pioneered mentorship for mid-career women journalists across several countries around the world, and is the first organization to focus on the status of free press for women journalists. We thoroughly document cases of any form of abuse against women in any part of the globe. Our system of individuals and organizations brings together the experience and mentorship necessary to help female career journalists navigate the industry. Our goal is to help develop a strong mechanism where women journalists can work safely and thrive.
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