AMED – It was revealed that the court, which sentenced journalist Nurcan Yalçın to 2 years and 1 month in prison on the charge of "aiding the terrorist organization", relied on the "intelligence note" from TEM Branch when making the sentence. The Court of Appeal, which examined the file upon objection, overturned the local court's decision, not on the grounds of illegal evidence, but on the grounds of incomplete research.
The 2 years and 1 month prison sentence given to Journalist Nurcan Yalçın by the Diyarbakır 9th High Criminal Court was reversed by the Court of Appeal. The case filed against Yalçın in 2020 on charges of "being a member of a terrorist organization" and "making propaganda for a terrorist organization", "Membership of the Rosa Women's Association", "virtual media shares", statements of the secret witness codenamed "ZS35SN58UV52PG10", and Diyarbakır Counter-terrorism Committee (TEM) Branch Office, despite not working there. It was based on the intelligence "information note" prepared by 's regarding JINNEWS.
The court, which decided the file on November 22, 2021, sentenced Yalçın, who was accused of "membership in a terrorist organization", to 2 years and 1 month in prison for "aiding a terrorist organization without being a member of it". The court postponed the prison sentence of 1 year, 6 months and 22 days on the charge of "propagandizing for a terrorist organization".
In its reasoned decision, the court stated that there was no need to punish Yalçın for "membership in a terrorist organization" on the grounds that "there is no legal possibility for her to be accepted as a member of a terrorist organization since her activities as a member do not include diversity, continuity and intensity, indicating that she is included in the hierarchy of the organization."
INTELLIGENCE NOTE WAS TAKEN AS A BASIS FOR THE JUDGMENT
In the reasoned decision, it was revealed that the court relied on the "intelligence note" from the TEM Branch when making a decision. In the justification of the prison sentence given to Yalçın, the court included "Membership of the Rosa Women's Association", "virtual media shares" and secret documents named "ZS35SN58UV52PG10" as evidence. In addition to the witness' statements, he also listed the "information note" from the TEM Branch.
In cases related to "disclosure of state information that must remain confidential" and "espionage" charges, it is possible to present intelligence notes to the courts if they are supported by other evidence.
HEAVY PUNISHMENTS TO KURD POLITICIANS
The intelligence note, which was among the evidence of the case in which Yalçın was tried, but whose content was not disclosed, brought to mind the cases filed against Kurd politicians and the sentences given. Heavy prison sentences were given to politicians such as Democratic Society Congress (DTK) Co-chair Leyla Güven, former HDP Amed Provincial Co-chair Hülya Alökmen and Amed Metropolitan Municipality Co-Mayor Selçuk Mızraklı, who were tried in the 9th High Criminal Court based on the intelligence note.
APPEAL REVERSED THE DECISION
The prison sentence given to journalist Nurcan Yalçın, considering the intelligence note as evidence, was overturned by the 2nd Criminal Chamber of the Diyarbakır Regional Court of Justice, where the file was moved upon objection.
JUSTIFICATION INCOMPLETE REVIEW!
The reason for the reversal of the Court of Appeal was that the trial court decided without examining whether there was a relationship between the content of the current file and another investigation conducted against Yalçın in the same period and the case file opened in Diyarbakır 4th High Criminal Court. Stating that the court made a decision based on incomplete research and insufficient justification, although all the evidence must be evaluated together. The appeal overturned the decision.
The court did not make a legal evaluation regarding the intelligence note, which was considered as evidence.
The Appeal also rejected the request to abolish the judicial control measure applied against Yalçın and sent the file to Diyarbakır 9th High Criminal Court to correct the deficiencies and conduct a retrial.