Journalist Meşale Tolu acquitted

* Sources: AA, DW Türkçe

Click to read the article in Turkish

Charged with "propagandizing for a terrorist organization" and "being a member of a terrorist organization" in Turkey, journalist and translator Meşale Tolu, also a citizen of Germany, has been acquitted.

The İstanbul 29th High Criminal Court has handed down its ruling in the trial of 23 defendants, including Meşale Tolu, where the defendants were facing the charges of "membership of the Marxist Leninist Communist Party (MLKP)" and "terrorist propaganda".

The hearing today (January 17) was attended by defendant Sinan Aktaş and the lawyers of the defendants. A representative from the Embassy of Germany and deputy Max Lucks from Germany's Die Grünen (The Greens) party also followed the final hearing of the trial.

The court board has ruled that Meşale Tolu Çorlu and her spouse Suat Çorlu shall be acquitted of "propagandizing for a terrorist organization" and "being members of an armed terrorist organization" on the grounds that they were not proved guilty of the offenses charged. The court has also removed the judicial control measures on Meşale Tolu and Suat Çorlu.

DJV has welcomed the acquittal

Sharing a brief message about the issue on its Twitter account, the German Federation of Journalists (DJV) has welcomed the acquittal of Tolu. Noting that it is "relieved" by her acquittal, the DJV has expressed "continued solidarity with all arrested and oppressed journalists."

On the other hand, the court board has ruled that defendants Deniz Havuç and Serkan Okatan shall be sentenced to 6 years, 5 months, 15 days in prison each on charge of "committing crimes on behalf of the organization" and "violating the Law on Meetings and Demonstrations".

While Ali Aykul is given a deferred prison sentence of 1 year, 6 months, 22 days and judicial control measures for 2 years, Serkan Zorlu has been sentenced to 10 months in prison. Deferring the sentence, the court has imposed judicial control measures on him for a year.

The remaining 17 defendants have been acquitted on the grounds that they were not proven guilty of the offenses charged.

What happened?

Etkin News Agency (ETHA) reporter and translator Meşale Tolu was detained in a police raid on her house where she lived with her 2.5-year-old son on April 30, 2017; she was arrested on May 6, 2017.

Charged with being a member of the MLKP and propagandizing for the organization, Tolu is also a citizen of Germany. With her case closely followed by the Embassy of Germany and the press in the country, Tolu was facing up to 15 years in prison on charges of "propagandizing for a terrorist organization" and "membership of a terrorist organization".

As criminal evidence, the indictment cited her attendance to a series of events, including the following: The march held for Suphi Nejat Ağırnaslı in 2014; the condolence ceremony held in memory of Ivana Hoffman, a citizen of Germany who lost her life in the fight against ISIS in Syria; the protest demonstration held by the Socialist Party of the Oppressed (ESP) against corruption in Kadıköy in 2014; and the funeral of Yeliz Erbay and Şirin Öter, who were killed in a house raid of the police in İstanbul.

Moreover, the indictment cited it as criminal evidence that a magazine titled "Marxist Theory", which is legal in Turkey, was found in Tolu's house. The indictment also included an anonymous witness statement.

With her spouse arrested and released a few weeks before her, Tolu was held together with her son in the Bakırköy Women's Closed Prison in İstanbul. Arrested pending trial for 7.5 months, Tolu was released on probation at the second hearing of the case on December 18, 2017. (AÖ/SD)