Turkey: Third Hearing On The Compensation Case Against Çiğdem Toker Was Held Today
Location: Turkey, Istanbul
Date: October 15, 2020Available in: 🇹🇷 Türkçe
A third hearing was held today concerning the suit for damages that T3 Foundation initiated against Sözcü columnist Çiğdem Toker.
Sözcü newspaper columnist Çiğdem Toker is standing before trial due to her article discussing budgetary reports of the Istanbul Municipality. 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 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.
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 last hearing the judge asked for witnesses to stand before court. Today, the founding manager of T3 foundation attended the hearing as a witness and in his statement he said “T3 foundation has never accepted any donations from any entity before”. While rejecting the reliability of the statement as the founding manager is a party of the case and shall not be considered as a witness, Çiğdem Toker said that “she never made such claims but she only shared the documents of the Istanbul Municipality.”
While the judge ruled to consider the requests of Çiğdem Toker’s lawyer concerning their witnesses, the court was adjourned to February 18 in order to allow the defense to provide their statements against the witness statement in writing.
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. Most recently the request of Şahinbey Municipality against Hazal Ocak to pay 20 thousand Turkish Liras in compensation over her news piece was accepted. 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.
Follow us on Instagram @womeninjournalism and Twitter @CFWIJ. Our website is WomenInJournalism.org and we can be reached at press@womeninjournalism.org
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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