The first hearing of the case about Deniz Kılıç, the former Batman representative of Azadiya Welat Newspaper which was closed with the Decree-Law (KHK), on the allegation of “propaganda of a terrorist organization” on the social media between 2014 and 2015, was seen in Batman 2nd Criminal Court with 5 years in prison request.
Kılıç made his defense after reading the indictment, stated that his posts were from news, and the photographs he took were for Tigris News Agency (DİHA), which was shutted down by Decree-Law.
He answered “Are you a journalist?”, “Which paper do you work for?” questions. “Yes, I worked for DİHA as a reported as well.” The posts he shared were not crimes, and that he was sharing them to spread news in the scope of expression freedom, expressed he. The head of the court, then told Kılıç “We will not decide now,” and interrupted the hearing. The court then proceeded to the hearing, asked the prosecutor to give his opinion on the merits. The prosecutor claimed that Kılıç’s defense was aimed at getting rid of the crime and demanded that he be punished for “making propaganda of a chain organization” on the grounds that Kılıç’s posts were made through the press and publication.
“The trial is complete, we have consciously decided that you are guilty,” the president of the court said. The court sentenced Kılıç to three years, one month and 15 days in prison for “making propaganda for an organization”.
Criminal Demand to Journalists due to “Chain propaganda for terrorist organization”
Meanwhile, the prosecutor gave opinion in the case where Kemal Sancılı, the concession holder of the Özgür Gündem newspaper, which was shut down by the Decree-Law (KHK), and former Editor-in-Chief İnan Kızılkaya were tried for three news articles published in the newspaper in 2016.
He demanded that Sancılı and Kızılkaya be punished with “chain propaganda of a terrorist organization”. The hearing was held at the 27th Assize Court of Istanbul. Lawyer Sercan Korkmaz was present at the hearing in which Kızılkaya and Sancılı did not attend. Due to the change of the delegation old records were read.
The prosecutor then submitted his opinion on the merits. The prosecutor requested that Sancılı and Kızılkaya be punished separately for “making propaganda of a chain terrorist organization”. The lawyer demanded time to defend against the opinion. The court adjourned the hearing to 10 December 2019.