Journalists Imprisoned in 2017 - Ayşe Nazlı Ilıcak
| Publisher | Committee to Protect Journalists |
| Publication Date | 31 December 2017 |
| Cite as | Committee to Protect Journalists, Journalists Imprisoned in 2017 - Ayşe Nazlı Ilıcak, 31 December 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5a5c943aa.html [accessed 6 June 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Özgür Düşünce, Can Erzincan TV | Imprisoned in Turkey | July 26, 2016
| Job: | Broadcast Reporter, Columnist/Commentator |
| Medium: | Documentary Film, Internet, Print, Television |
| Beats Covered: | Corruption, Crime, Human Rights, Politics, War |
| Gender: | Female |
| Local or Foreign: | Local |
| Freelance: | No |
| Charge: | Anti-state |
| Length of Sentence: | Not Sentenced |
| Reported Health Problems: | No |
Police in the coastal town of Bodrum detained Ayşe Nazlı Ilıcak – a former commentator for the pro-opposition daily newspaper Özgür Düşünce and Can Erzincan TV who is better known by her pen name, Nazlı Ilıcak – on July 26, 2016, and transferred her to Istanbul for questioning as part of a sweeping purge of journalists and others suspected of following exiled preacher Fethullah Gülen, according to press reports. The government accuses Gülen of maintaining a terrorist organization and "parallel state structure" (or FETÖ/PDY, as the government calls it) within Turkey that it blames for orchestrating a failed military coup on July 15, 2016.
Özgür Düşünce and Can Erzincan TV were among the more than 100 newspapers, broadcasters, news agencies, and magazines the Turkish government closed by decree on July 27, 2016, using emergency powers it assumed after the attempted coup, saying the media outlets were FETÖ/PDY mouthpieces.
Istanbul's Fifth Court of Penal Peace on July 30, 2016, arraigned Ilıcak and 16 other journalists, ordering them jailed pending trial on charges of "being members of an armed terrorist organization," according to the media monitoring group P24. The daily newspaper Hürriyet reported that the 17 journalists were questioned by prosecutors on accusations of "being members of an armed terrorist organization," "founding or leading an armed terrorist organization," "knowingly and willingly helping [a terrorist] organization without being involved in the organization's hierarchical structure," and "committing crimes in the name of a [terrorist] organization without being a member."
Ilıcak's trial began in Istanbul on July 19, 2017. Her co-defendants are the brothers Ahmet Altan and Mehmet Altan; Fevzi Yazıcı, the former layout editor for the shuttered newspaper Zaman; Yakup Şimşek, the newspaper's former advertising director; and Şükrü Tuğrul Özşengül, a former police academy instructor and TV commentator, according to reports.
The defendants are all charged with: "attempting to eliminate the Constitutional order," "attempting to eliminate the government of Turkey or to prevent it from its duties partially or totally through violence and force," "attempting to eliminate the parliament of Turkey or to prevent it from its duties partially or totally through violence and force," and "aiding an armed terrorist organization without being a member," according to the indictment, which CPJ reviewed.
Evidence cited against Ilıcak in the indictment include a notebook, social media posts, a TV debate she hosted, during which the Altan brothers allegedly sent subliminal messages in favor of a military coup, her 2012 book Her Taşın Altında "the Cemaat" mı Var? (Is It "the [Gülen Community?]"), and newspaper columns she wrote in 1980, which the prosecutors said were supportive of a coup that year. The incitement also listed her communication with other alleged FETÖ members.
All the defendants denied the charges.
Ilıcak was being held at at Bakırköy Women's Prison in Istanbul, according to press reports.
The next hearing was scheduled for December 11, 2017, Bianet reported.
