A Turkish journalist gave her first defense Wednesday in a trial concerning criticism of Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli after the indictment against her and a colleague was rejected four times by three courts before an unchanged version was eventually accepted, the Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA) reported.
Gözde Şeker and İbrahim Kahveci face charges of insult and false accusation over comments made during a June 2024 broadcast on Halk TV about Bahçeli’s response to the killing of Sinan Ateş, the former head of the MHP-affiliated Grey Wolves youth organization. The case resulted from a criminal complaint filed by Bahçeli.
Şeker gave her defense at Istanbul’s Anadolu 38th Criminal Court of First Instance at the request of the Ankara court hearing the trial. She denied the accusations, saying her comments were made as part of her work as a journalist and amounted to criticism rather than insult.
Her lawyer, Kazım Yiğit Akalın, said Şeker had been moderating the program and asking questions while guests provided commentary. He sought her acquittal, arguing that the indictment still did not clearly identify which statements formed the basis of each charge.
The indictment was rejected four times during a process that began in late 2024. Ankara’s 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance first returned it, saying the case did not involve a press offense and should be handled under general criminal law. Prosecutors then sent it to Ankara’s 52nd Criminal Court of First Instance.
The 52nd court rejected the indictment because prosecutors had not obtained a report from Turkey’s broadcast regulator, the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK), and had not separated Şeker’s statements from Kahveci’s or specified which statements allegedly constituted false accusation and which constituted insult.
Prosecutors revised the indictment and sent it to another Ankara court, which returned it on procedural grounds, saying the case should go back to the court that had previously reviewed it.
The indictment was then returned to the 52nd court with the RTÜK report added. The court rejected it for a fourth time because prosecutors still had not specified which statements supported each charge. About a year later, prosecutors resubmitted the indictment without making further changes, and it was accepted in March 2026.
Kahveci is scheduled to give his defense in Istanbul on October 14. The trial is scheduled to be heard by Ankara’s 52nd Criminal Court of First Instance on October 20.
Bahçeli filed his complaint on June 12, 2024, after Şeker and Kahveci discussed comments he had made about the Ateş murder case on Şeker’s “Kırmızı Çizgi” program. Ankara prosecutors issued the indictment on October 14, 2024.
According to the indictment, Kahveci said investigators should identify not only those who killed Ateş but also anyone who helped them. He also referred to earlier attacks on politicians and journalists and said that failing to solve Ateş’s killing and prosecute those responsible would send a message that similar attacks could be carried out with impunity.
Şeker criticized Bahçeli’s language about the case as harsh and “poisonous” and also criticized comments he had made about Kurdish politics, according to the indictment.
Prosecutors alleged that the journalists publicly insulted Bahçeli and falsely accused him of unlawful conduct. Both journalists have denied wrongdoing and said their comments were protected expressions of opinion made as part of their journalistic work.
Ateş, an academic and former head of the Grey Wolves, a nationalist youth organization affiliated with the MHP, was shot dead in Ankara in December 2022. His killing led to a high-profile criminal case in Turkey.
