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A Court in Aydın province treated the retraction requested by the District Governor of Köşk District of Aydın and published in our newspaper Evrensel as an advertisement and ruled that it "must be published in two news websites and two newspapers with a circulation of over one hundred thousand". Our lawyer Devrim Avcı underlined that the decision was both unjust and clearly against the law, and said, "Such a provision does not exist in any provision of the Press Law. This is clearly against the law." CHP MP Utku Çakırözer, who is a journalist, said, "What kind of a demand or punishment is it for a newspaper to be forced to place an advertisement in another newspaper? It is incomprehensible! This penalty does not only eliminate freedom of the press, but also casts a shadow on the independence and impartiality of the judiciary."

RETRACTION TEXT HAD BEEN ALREADY PUBLISHED

On 29 July 2022, in the news article published on page 1 of our newspaper Evrensel with the title "People claim their water and land" and on page 12 with the title "District Governor intimidates headmen"; it was reported that Tuğba Polat, District Governor of Köşk district of Aydın, intimidated the headmen. The news article covered the struggle of villagers in Köşk district against geothermal power plants and it was stated that the District Governorate told the mukhtars "You are civil servants, you cannot make such statements".

District Governor Tuğba Polat then applied to Aydın 2nd Criminal Judicature of Peace claiming that the news was baseless, and the court decided to publish a retraction. This decision was published in the edition of our newspaper dated 6 October 2022. In her reply and correction text, District Governor Tuğba Polat said, "It is out of the question for me to call the mukhtars and intimidate, warn or threaten them."

"TO BE PUBLISHED ON TWO WEBSITES AND IN TWO NEWSPAPERS WITH A CIRCULATION OF ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND COPIES"

However, the court made another scandalous decision. District Governor Tuğba Polat applied to the court again about the retraction text published by our newspaper Evrensel and demanded that "the retraction text should be published as an advertisement in two internet news websites and two newspapers with a circulation of over one hundred thousand". Aydın 2nd Criminal Judicature of Peace also accepted the district governor's request.

"CLEARLY AGAINST THE LAW"

Devrim Avcı, the lawyer of our newspaper, objected to the court decision, which he stated was unfair and clearly against the law. The appeal petition reads as follows:

"Article 14 of the Press Law on the publication of the text of the reply and correction contains regulations stating that the text of the reply and correction will only be published in the newspaper in which the news is published. It does not contain any provision regarding the publication in a different press organ. The Court has taken a decision on a regulation that is not included in the text of the Law and this is contrary to the Law. The written text cannot be expanded through a judgement. Moreover, the reply and correction text in question was published in the newspaper on 06.10.2022 in accordance with the conditions specified in the Law... Re-publishing the same text is also contrary to the purpose of the Law."

COURT REJECTED AGAIN

Avcı's objection petition, in which he added that the news article was made in accordance with the principles of journalism and in compliance with the law, was rejected.

Aydın 1st Criminal Judicature of Peace insisted on the decision of "publishing the retraction text as an advertisement in two internet news websites and two newspapers with a circulation of more than one hundred thousand", stating that "since there is no inaccuracy in the decision regarding the acceptance of the request for the publication of the correction and reply letter, it has been decided to reject the objection".

AVCI: SUCH A DECISION IS NOT COVERED BY ANY PROVISION OF THE PRESS LAW

Lawyer Devrim Avcı underlined once again that the decision is both unfair and in clear violation of the law and said, "The retraction text given to a newspaper is treated as an advertisement and asked to be published in a different media organ. Such a provision does not exist in any provision of the Press Law. This is clearly against the law."

Reminding the Press Law, Avcı said, "They are saying to Evrensel, 'Re-publish the same text. Moreover, they do not want it to be published in your own newspaper, but in two newspapers with a circulation of over one hundred thousand. This is an unheard of and unprecedented decision. Why should another newspaper publish your retraction text? This is even against the purpose of the law."

THE DECISION WILL BE APPEALED TO THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT

Stating that the news article published in the newspaper had already been made in accordance with basic journalistic principles and that it complied with legal criteria, Evrensel Avcı reminded the judgements of the European Court of Human Rights and said: "Freedom of expression is one of the main foundations of a democratic society. Of course, there is harsh criticism in the news article. However, politicians should endure such criticism. The fact that our news article is against a person does not mean that it violates his/her personal rights."

Avcı added that they would take the decision to the Constitutional Court.

"CASTS A SHADOW ON THE INDEPENDENCE OF THE JUDICIARY"

"We are facing a new scandalous penalty in violation of press freedom," said Utku Çakırözer, a journalist-oriented CHP MP.

Çakırözer said that it is unacceptable that Evrensel, which was stripped of its right to publish official announcements, is being penalised despite publishing a retraction:

"With a regulation that has no place even in the Press Law. What kind of a demand or punishment is it for a newspaper to be forced to give advertisements to another newspaper? It is incomprehensible! This penalty does not only eliminate freedom of the press, but also casts a shadow on the independence and impartiality of the judiciary. Newspapers and journalists cannot be silenced with these unjust and unlawful penalties, which have no precedent anywhere. Our right to information cannot be prevented."