Penal Chamber No 16 of the Court of Cassation has ordered the halting of the execution of the former Cumhuriyet staffers’ sentences and their release. Following the decision, five Cumhuriyet staffers have been released.
Penal Chamber No 16 of the Court of Cassation has completed its cassation review of the local court’s judgment that handed down prison terms for “aiding a terrorist organization” to former Cumhuriyet staffers. The chamber quashed the sentences against Akın Atalay, Orhan Erinç, Murat Sabuncu, Aydın Engin, Hikmet Çetinkaya and Ahmet Şık, who had applied for cassation.
Penal Chamber No 16 of the Court of Cassation instructed the quashing order to be extended pursuant to Article 306 of the Code of Criminal Procedure which provides that, “The quashing of the judgment will also be applied to other defendants who did not apply for cassation” to Önder Çelik, Bülent Utku, Güray Tekinöz, Hacı Musa Kart, Hakan Karasinir, Mustafa Kemal Güngör and Ahmet Kadri Gürsel, who had been tried for the same offence but whose convictions attained finality in the appeal court.
It was stated in the decision that, since the sentences had attained finality and their execution had begun, a halt was ordered of the execution of these person’s sentences so as not to give rise to a future loss of rights.
Following the Court of Cassation ruling, Önder Çelik, Güray Tekin Öz, Hacı Musa Kart, Hakan Karasinir and Mustafa Kemal Güngör were released from Kandıra F Type Closed Prison where they had been incarcerated.
The writers were met in front of the prison by Istanbul Bar Association Chair Mehmet Durakoğlu, lawyers affiliated to the Istanbul Bar Association, Akın Atalay, administrators of the Lawyers for Freedom Association and their families and friends. With emotion-filled moments marking the reunion, Kocaeli Provincial Governate denied permission for the making of a statement in front of the prison citing the ruling as grounds.
With the former Cumhuriyet staffers denied permission to make a statement in front of the prison, they made a statement five kilometres away from the prison. Cartoonist Musa Kart, having exited prison, pointed to the lawlessness they had suffered and said, “It is hard to live in countries that have lost their sense of professionalism. But it is even harder for me to live in countries where everything is comedy. Unfortunately, we are passing through a period in which everything is comedy. This will be seen on examination of our case file. In contemporary law-based states, people are first tried and then punished. The exact opposite happened to us. We were able to appear before a judge after having been detained in Silivri for nine months. That is, we were punished in advance. You see, the prosecutor who was seeking our imprisonment for 30-40 years is being prosecuted charged with membership of the FETO terrorist organization and a life sentence is being sought for him.”
Kart continued, “With those of our colleagues being tried in the same case for whom sentences of more than five years were sought entitled to go to the Court of Cassation, we, that is those who had been sentenced to less than five years, were deprived of this right. We were sent to prison for a second time. With the Constitutional Court President having pointed to a rights violation to boot. With the Minister of Justice saying on TV, “They should not even spend one day behind bars.” The fact is that comedy to this extent defies a cartoonist’s imagination. We said on entering Kandıra Prison, ‘This trial, that is the Cumhuriyet trial, will continue to be heard in the people’s conscience.’ Indeed, this is what happened and the error has been reverted in the ruling the Court of Cassation passed.”
Saying, “Going forward, we are not now going to engage in a display of victimhood over the months and years that have been stolen from us,” Kart rounded up by saying, “But we have not abandoned our demand for a contemporary law-based state. We are insistent on this matter. Yes, we are free just now, but we have left a story of considerable victimization in our wake. We have left behind people who are urgently awaiting justice. By now everyone knows that journalists are thrown in jail to create a climate of fear. We want it to be realized that this is not a correct path. Let it also be known and seen that prisons dent neither our attitudes nor our smiles.”
It was also ordered for immediate application to be made for their release if they were not detained or convicted of another offence and for the annulment of the apprehension writ for Bülent Utku, against whom an arrest warrant is outstanding.
The chamber ordered the implementing of a ban on leaving the country against Güray Tekinöz, Hacı Musa Kart, Hakan Karasinir, Mustafa Kemal Güngör, Önder Çelik and Bülent Utku.
The Chamber, which upheld the appeal court’s dismissive ruling on the other defendant, Yusuf Emre İper, who had been sentenced to a three year, one month and fifteen day jail term, due to the conditions for extension not having been fulfilled, also decided to uphold the ten year jail term awarded for “FETO membership” to Ahmet Kemal Aydoğdu, the holder of the "jeansbiri" account on Twitter.
Holding the crime of Ahmet Şık, who received a seven and a half year jail term on the count of “aiding a terrorist organization while not being a member,” to have constituted that of Article 6/2 of the Counterterrorism Law, the chamber ruled that Article 7/2 of the Counterterrorism Law and Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code which includes the crime of “insulting the Turkish People, the State of the Republic of Turkey and the institutions and organs of the state” had to be taken into consideration.
The reasoning for the judgment will be drafted later.
Article 6/2 of the Counterterrorism Law contains the provision, “Those who print or publish statements or comments of terrorist organizations which portray methods including force, violence or threat as being legitimate or praise them or encourage application to such methods shall be punished with imprisonment of one year to three years.”
As to Article 7/2 of the same statute, this contains the provision, “A person who makes propaganda of terrorist organizations in a manner which will portray methods including force, violence or threat as being legitimate or praise them or encourage application to such methods shall be punished with imprisonment of one year to three years. If this crime is committed by means of the press or broadcasting, the sentence awarded shall be increased by one half. Additionally, broadcasting responsible persons of press and broadcasting organizations who are accessory to the commission of the crime shall be sentenced to a commuted fine of one thousand days to five thousand days.”
Following the ruling, the case will be remitted to Istanbul Serious Crime Court No 27. (EVRENSEL DAILY)
(Translated by Tim DRAYTON)
Ceren Sözeri
Yusuf Karadaş
Aras Coşkuntuncel