ISTANBUL - Journalist Ömer Çelik has filed an application with the Constitutional Court regarding his torture and imprisonment for reporting electronic e-mails belonging to former Energy Minister Berat Albayrak.

 

Journalist Ömer Çelik, who reported on the electronic e-mail information of Berat Albayrak, the former Minister of Energy and Natural Resources leaked by Redhack, was detained in a police raid on his house in Diyarbakır on December 24, 2016. A confidentiality order has been brought against Çelik, who was detained on charges of "being a member of a terrorist organization" and "unlawfully entering the IT system and illegally obtaining personal data" due to his news report within the scope of the investigation initiated by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, and the files of 5 journalists accompanying him.

 

Çelik was detained at the Istanbul Security Directorate for 24 days. During this period, Çelik was tortured, degraded and ill-treated. In addition to his detention, Çelik's application to the Criminal Court of Peace regarding the restriction of the file received no response.

 

INDICTMENT PREPARED AFTER 6 MONTHS 

 

Using his "right to remain silent" due to the torture he was subjected to while in custody, Çelik denied the accusations at the Istanbul Courthouse, where he was taken to take his statement at the prosecutor's office on January 17, 2017, and underlined that the alleged case was journalistic activity; however, Çelik was arrested and sent to Silivri Closed Prison by the Istanbul 8th Criminal Court of Peace, to which he was transferred, on the grounds of his news and social media posts published in the Dicle News Agency (DİHA). Çelik, who was indicted on June 23, was charged with "making propaganda for a terrorist organization".

 

APPLICATION TO CONSTITUTIONAL COURT

 

After the indictment accepted by the Istanbul 29th High Criminal Court, Çelik was released in the first hearing held on October 24. In the decision hearing held on December 31, 2021, Çelik was sentenced to 1 year and 8 months in prison for "unlawfully entering the information system and illegally acquiring personal data". After the sentence given by the Istanbul Regional Court of Justice was upheld on November 17, 2022, Çelik's lawyer Özcan Kılıç applied to the Constitutional Court (AYM).

 

CHAIN OF VIOLATIONS

 

The application drew attention to the accusations against Çelik during the investigation and prosecution process. In the application, which states that these accusations are found to be baseless and unfounded, it is stated in the application that Çelik is a journalist and that the right to a fair trial, personal freedom, respect for family and private life, as well as freedom of press and expression, which are guaranteed by the Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), are exercised. violation was recorded. In the application, it was stated that many articles of the Constitution were clearly violated by stating that there were unjust, disproportionate, baseless and direct interventions against Çelik's "prohibition of torture, humiliating-degrading and ill-treatment" and "freedom of expression and dissemination of thought".

 

RIGHT TO DEFENSE VIOLATED

 

In the application, in which it was stated that the concrete basis of the crime and the punishment was not included even during the trial and in the reasoned decision, it was stated that access to the file was blocked until the date of the indictment. In the application underlining that the right to defense was also blocked, it was stated that “The opportunity to learn the material and legal bases and justifications in a concrete and sufficient manner and to present defense-evidence was not provided, the use of the right to defense was prevented, thus the use of the right of effective application was prevented. 

 

SOCIETY WAS TARGETED

 

In the application, which draws attention to many ECtHR decisions, it is emphasized that the critical voices are removed by trial and punishment and that this has a negative effect on the society, and it is stated that “As in the concrete case, the implementation of a measure that leads to deprivation of liberty is expressed by intimidating the civil society and silencing the dissenting voices. It is clear that this inevitably has a chilling effect on the freedom of expression.

 

MA / Mehmet Aslan