Defendants: Necmiye Alpay

Media Outlet and Position: Özgür Gündem – Co-editor-in-chief, philologist

Accusations: Terrorist propaganda

Charges: –

Court: İstanbul 33. High Criminal Court

Necmiye Alpay, a Turkish philologist and editor, is facing charges of “spreading terrorist propaganda” for her support to the “Academics for Peace” petition entitled “We will not be a party to this crime!” which was signed initially by over 250 academicians in order to voice the demand for peace in the Kurdish-populated region in Turkey.

Aslı Erdoğan and Necmiye Alpay were previously detained in August 2016 in relation to another ongoing trial for their participation in a solidarity campaign, titled “Editors-in-Chief on Watch”, on behalf of the now-closed pro-Kurdish newspaper, Özgür Gündem. Both released on bail after over 4 months in jail. The travel bans on both journalists were lifted in June 2017.

The first hearing in this case took place on July 16, 2019 with Alpay and her lawyer’s presence in the court. Her lawyer rejected all accusations and requested additional time to prepare defense statement. The court decided to adjourn the case until November 29, 2019,  requesting the documents from Özgür Gündem’s trial, where Alpay is among the defendants.

You might like to see the details of Özgür Gündem case here.