Court to Evaluate Request That Özgür Gündem Cases Be Combined

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The trials regarding the Özgür Gündem Newspaper, which was closed by a Statutory Decree, continued at the 13th Heavy Penal Court in İstanbul Courthouse in Çağlayan today (January 22).

Regarding the request of attorney Özcan Kılıç, who demanded that the case files of Özgür Gündem trials be combined, the court board has ruled that the request of the attorney shall be evaluated in the next hearing.

The board has also ruled that the arrest warrant issued for journalist Hasan Başak shall continue to be in effect.

The next hearing of the case will be held on May 7, 2019.

News reports and articles published on the newspaper constitute the subject of the case, where Co-Chief Editors of the newspaper Eren Keskin and Hüseyin Aykol, its Editor-in-Chief Reyhan Çapan and journalist Hasan Başak have been tried and whose ninth hearing was held today.

Request for combination of case files

None of the defendant journalists attended the hearing today. Their attorney Özcan Kılıç stated that there are other lawsuits against his clients heard by the same court and requested that the files of these cases be combined.

The Prosecutor's Office demanded that the request of the attorney be evaluated in the next hearing and the arrest warrant previously issued for journalist Hasan Başak remain in effect. The court board has abided by the opinion of the Prosecutor's Office and ruled accordingly. (TP/SD)