Defendants: Ayşegül Doğan

Media Outlet and Position: İMC TV – Program Coordinator

Accusations: Founding and managing an armed organization

Possible sentence: Up to 22.5 years in prison

Court: Diyarbakır 9th High Criminal Court

Case Background: 

Ayşegül Doğan, a program coordinator of now-shuttered IMC-TV, is being tried for her journalistic activities including her meetings and interviews with executives of the Democratic Society Congress (DTK), a union of pro-Kurdish civil society organizations, as well as for attending events as a journalist.

At a hearing on April 3, 2019, Doğan was excused from attending but her lawyers were present. The court ordered additional time for samples of her voice to be recorded and compared with recordings made at the DTK building, which are in the court’s possession, as well as for additional documents to be submitted.

During the third hearing on September 11, 2019, the court ruled to grant additional time to Doğan to conduct a comparative voice analysis at the Forensic Institute in Istanbul. The court also decided to write to the Diyarbakır Chief Prosecutor’s Office to request information about when Doğan was integrated into the investigation file as a suspect. The court adjourned the trial until December 25, 2019.

During the hearing on December 25, the forensic report on tape recordings at DTK building was submitted. Doğan underlined the forensic report findings that recordings were partially unclear to analyse and the rest of the recordings were not of the journalist’s voice. Doğan also stated that she attended DTK events solely for journalistic purposes and that she is not a member of DTK’s assembly. Doğan’s lawyers objected to the tapes, suggesting the evidence was collected illegally.

The court ruled to ask Communications Directorate under Presidential office whether or not Doğan holds an official press card and adjourned the hearing until March 18.

Due to suspension of all judicial proceedings in March and April because of COVID-19 pandemic, the March 18 and June 10 hearings were adjourned.

During the most recent hearing on October 7, the prosecutor submitted his final opinion requesting a prison sentence for Doğan of up to 15 years on the charge of “membership of a terrorist organization”, changing the initial charge of “founding and managing a terrorist organization” against her.

The court rejected the request for the recordings of Doğan’s from the Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office on the grounds that it would not change anything regarding the trial.

The next hearing is adjourned to December 7, 2020.