Details of the “terrorism” indictment against the Istanbul Bar Association administration have been revealed
The Bakırköy Public Prosecutor's Office prepared an indictment against the Istanbul Bar Association President İbrahim Kaboğlu and 10 board members for "Making Terrorist Organization Propaganda Through the Press" and "Publicly Disseminating Misleading Information Through the Press", requesting a prison sentence of 3 to 12 years. The indictment also requested a political ban. Before evaluating the prosecutor's request for a "final investigation permit", the High Criminal Court requested the bar association's defense and evidence, stating that the investigation could be expanded.
The Istanbul Bar Association published a statement titled "International Humanitarian Law Should Be Implemented" on the official X account of the bar association on December 21, 2024 regarding the killing of Nazım Daştan and Cihan Bilgin, who claimed to be journalists, by security forces in Syria. Then, the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office referred to the investigations opened against them for the crime of "membership of an armed terrorist organization" and noted that the people killed were not journalists but members of a terrorist organization who clashed with security forces, and a terror investigation was launched against the Istanbul Bar Association. The bar association also filed a lawsuit with the Istanbul Civil Court of First Instance for the change and re-election of its management. On the other hand, the prosecutor's office, which obtained permission from the Ministry of Justice to investigate Istanbul Bar Association President Kaboğlu and 10 members in accordance with the Law on Attorneys, took the statements of the bar association's board of directors as "suspects". The prosecutor's office, which subsequently completed its investigation, prepared an indictment. Since the permission for prosecution must be given by the nearest high criminal court, this indictment was sent to the Bakırköy Chief Public Prosecutor's Office. The Chief Public Prosecutor's Office reviewed the indictment and prepared an indictment.
BAR ASSOCIATION: PRESS UNIONS SHARED JOURNALISTSIn the indictment prepared by the Bakırköy Public Prosecutor's Office, the Istanbul Bar Association President Kaboğlu and the board members stated in summary that "they did not know the individuals named Nazım Daştan and Cihan Bilgin, that prior to the press release that is the subject of the investigation about these individuals, various statements were published by the Press Council, the Turkish Journalists' Union and Disk Basın İş, that they fulfilled their duty to defend the right to life, freedom of expression and the society's right to receive news within the scope of their duties and responsibilities stipulated in the Lawyers' Law, that in accordance with the relevant articles of the Ministry of Justice's circular numbered 13 dated 01/01/2006 on "Investigation and investigation procedures conducted regarding lawyers", if the lawyer requests, his/her statements as the person making the statement should be recorded in the minutes and the procedures should be conducted in accordance with this procedure, and that since the aforementioned procedure was not followed in the ongoing investigation, all procedures conducted up to this stage are contrary to the Constitution and the Law and are legally null and void."
The indictment alleged that the suspects introduced terrorist organization members Nazım Daştan and Cihan Bilgin as journalists in a press release and neutralized the security forces within the scope of the fight against terrorism. The indictment alleged that the suspects tried to create a perception by misleading the public with false information regarding the internal and external security of the country and public order with the expressions they used in their statements. It was noted that the action was likely to disrupt public peace when the content of the posts and the number of views of the posts on social media were taken into consideration.
FINAL PERMISSION DECISION REQUESTED FOR THE TRIALFor all these reasons, the Bakırköy Public Prosecutor's Office prepared an indictment against the President of the Istanbul Bar Association, İbrahim Kaboğlu, and 10 board members for the crimes of "Making Terrorist Organization Propaganda Through the Press" and "Publicly Disseminating Misleading Information to the Public Through the Press", requesting a prison sentence of 3 to 12 years and a political ban. The indictment stated that the Ministry of Justice had given permission for prosecution and requested that a final investigation be opened.
COURT: IF YOU HAVE EVIDENCE, THE INVESTIGATION CAN BE DEEPERBakırköy 13th High Criminal Court reviewed the indictment. The court decided to serve the indictment on the Istanbul Bar Association President İbrahim Özden Kaboğlu and 10 bar association members. Bakırköy High Criminal Court stated that the Istanbul Bar Association administration would present their defense, any evidence they have, and that if necessary the investigation would be deepened, and that a decision for permission to try would be made based on the file. If Bakırköy 13th High Criminal Court grants permission to try, the file will be sent to the Istanbul Public Prosecutor's Office. The trial will take place at the Istanbul Courthouse.
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