OdaTV Trial Adjourned until 12 December, EFJ Observer Reports

This is the account of EFJ Observer Barry White, who attended the OdaTV trial in Istanbul, Turkey, on 11 September:

 

Justice and press freedom suffered further set backs on 11 September when an Istanbul court decided that the case against journalist and writer Yalçin Kücük should be adjourned until 12 December. Yalçin, one of the defendants in the Ergenekon trial, was sentenced to 22 years and six months in prison on 5 August at the end of that trial held in the court in the Silivri prison complex, 60 km west of Istanbul.

Kücük faces relating charges in the OdaTV trial and much of the hearing on 11 September was taken up with witness and lawyers' statements countering the charges against the journalist and writer. The case was further complicated as two of the three judges had been replaced since the last hearing in June, so some defence evidence was repeated for the benefit of the 'newcomers'.

In the end, the court decided to adjourn the case until 12 December, when it is anticipated that the prosecutor will make his final submission. Since the start of the trial in 2011, all but one journalist, Yalçin Kücük, have been released.

The remaining nine, although free, are under threat of imprisonment, as they have not been acquitted of the charges against them.