An appeals court in southeastern Turkey has overturned the acquittal of journalist Ayşe Kara, who now faces retrial on terrorism-related charges, the Artı Gerçek news website reported.
The court said the investigation in Kara’s case was incomplete, sending it back to the lower court for retrial.
Kara faces charges of terrorist organization affiliation due to her membership in a journalists association and a women’s association, both of which were shut down by executive decree-laws during a state of emergency in that followed a coup attempt 2016.
The prosecution also claimed that Kara had attended a demonstration as a protester and not to cover the news, demanding up to 15 years in prison.
The acquittal was based on a legal precedent set by the Supreme Court of Appeals which established that attendance at an event that is not organized for explicitly criminal purposes cannot be interpreted as terrorist engagement.
The Coalition for Women in Journalism released a statement, condemning the decision as a “gross misuse of the judicial system.”
It is common for Kurdish journalists in Turkey to face terrorism charges due to their alleged links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), particularly since President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan tightened his grip on the press in the aftermath of the failed coup in July 2016.
Designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey and much of the international community, the PKK has been waging a decades-long war against the state for greater autonomy for the Kurdish minority.
Turkey, which has a poor record in freedom of the press, was ranked 165th among 180 countries in the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) 2023 World Press Freedom Index, plunging 16 places from its ranking of 149th in 2022.
