Journalist Özlem Gürses sentenced to prison over comments on Syria
News anchor Özlem Gürses has been sentenced to one year and three months in prison for "publicly insulting the military organization of the state," due to her remarks about developments in Syria during a broadcast on her YouTube channel.
Gürses attended the hearing yesterday at the Çağlayan Courthouse alongside her three lawyers at the İstanbul 30th Penal Court of First Instance.
In her defense, Gürses argued that an eight-second excerpt had been taken from a 75-minute live broadcast and widely circulated through anonymous social media accounts and online trolls. "It is alleged that I insulted or degraded the Turkish Armed Forces based on this manipulated clip," she said.
Gürses noted that, due to her 52-day house arrest issued in December and the subsequent international travel ban, she had missed two international conferences where she was scheduled to speak.
"I was handcuffed, recordings were made with mobile phones to serve a character assassination campaign, and decisions were leaked to the press before we even saw them," she told the court.
Following her statement, the prosecutor requested that Gürses be sentenced to six months to two years in prison for the offense.
Gürses reiterated her innocence during her final remarks, stating, "I did not commit any crime."
BIA Media Monitoring Reports
Her lawyer, Enes Hikmet Ermaner, argued that the prosecutor's opinion had been prepared in advance and merely copy-pasted during the hearing.
"This is unacceptable both legally and ethically," he said, emphasizing that Gürses had no intention of committing a crime. He called for her acquittal, arguing that the prosecutor had failed to establish intent.
Despite these arguments, the court found Gürses guilty of "publicly insulting the military organization of the state" as per article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code and sentenced her to one year and three months in prison. Considering that Gürses had no prior convictions for intentional crimes, the court deferred the announcement of the verdict, meaning she will not serve prison time unless she commits another offense within a set probation period.
The court also lifted the judicial control measure that had barred Gürses from traveling abroad.
Background
The case against Gürses dates back to a broadcast she made on Dec 19 regarding developments in Syria following the fall of the Baath regime.
During a broadcast on her personel YouTube channel, she remarked, "The ISIS structure, that is, the TSK-SNA structure, has made small gains in Kurdish-populated areas." The comment, referring to the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) and the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA), prompted prosecutors to launch an investigation. Gürses later clarified that her words were taken out of context and stressed that she had no intention of linking the Turkish military to a terrorist organization.
In the video, Gürses does not appear to speak in an accusatory tone, and it seems she is not fully aware of what she is saying.
Gürses was detained on Dec 20 and subsequently released on Dec 21 under house arrest and with a travel ban. She was released from house arrest on Feb 12. During the time f the house arrest, she continued to host a morning news program for Sözcü TV in a studio set up in her home by the broadcaster. (HA/VK)
