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Defendants: Cihan Acar, Veysel Ok

Media Outlet and Position:  Reporter, Lawyer

Accusations: Insulting the Turkish state’s organs

Possible sentence: –

Court: İstanbul 2. Criminal Court

Case Background:

Cihan Acar, a reporter for Özgür Düşünce newspaper and now-closed Bugün newspaper, has been charged with “insulting the Turkish judiciary” under Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code, due to an interview he held with Veysel Ok on December 25, 2015. In the interview cited as criminal evidence, Veysel Ok, a prominent human rights and media lawyer, stated that the Turkish judiciary has lost its plurality and “became single-colored”.

Both Acar and Ok were charged reportedly after a complaint filed by the presidential office on 29 December 2015. The court accepted the indictment in August 2016 when Ok started representing journalists after the coup attempt.

During the second hearing on June 20, legal representatives of President Erdoğan requested a leave to intervene on behalf of the president. The court rejected the request on the ground that Erdoğan was not ‘directly harmed’ by Ok’s statement.

Next hearing is to be held on September 12, 2019.

Acar was arrested earlier on July 26, 2016, in a separate case for allegedly being a member of FETÖ/PDY terrorist group which Turkey’s government accuses of having established a “parallel state structure” and blames it for the failed July 15, 2016 coup attempt. The court announced the final verdict on March 8, 2018, sentencing Acar to 6 years and 3 months in prison on the charge of “membership of a terrorist organization.” But the court did not order for his re-arrest.