Prosecutors are seeking prison sentences on terrorism charges for İstanbul Bar Association President İbrahim Kaboğlu and members of the bar’s executive board, accusing them of “disseminating terrorist propaganda” in a statement on a military operation in northern Syria, Turkish Minute reported, citing the Anka news agency.
At the opening of the third hearing before the İstanbul 26th High Criminal Court on Monday, the prosecution reiterated its opinion on the merits, arguing that the defendants should be convicted under Article 7/2 of Turkey’s Anti-Terror Law for “propaganda for a terrorist organization through the press and publication.”
Prosecutors said the alleged offense should be treated as a single act and punished under the provision carrying the heaviest sentence.
The trial is being held at the Marmara Prison complex in Silivri, where uninterrupted hearings are scheduled to run from January 5 to 9. A verdict is widely expected during the session.
Kaboğlu and 10 executive board members are standing trial over a social media statement issued by the İstanbul Bar Association on December 21, 2024, calling for an effective investigation into the killing of journalists Nazım Daştan and Cihan Bilgin in northern Syria and demanding the release of journalists and lawyers detained during a peaceful protest in İstanbul a day earlier.
The two journalists were killed on December 19, 2024, when their vehicle was struck near the Tishrin Dam, east of Aleppo, while they were covering clashes between Turkey-backed forces and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a US-backed group spearheaded by Kurdish fighters.
Turkey considers the SDF a terrorist organization linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
While the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that a Turkish drone was responsible for the strike, Turkish authorities have claimed that Daştan and Bilgin were not journalists but members of a terrorist organization.
Prosecutors argue that referring to them as journalists and describing their deaths as a killing amounted to propaganda, encouraged terrorist group membership and sought to legitimize the aims of PKK-linked organizations.
In its opinion the prosecution further claimed that the bar’s statement misrepresented state counterterrorism operations, spread misleading information to the public, undermined trust in state institutions and attempted to create fear and concern in society.
Although prosecutors also cited the offense of “publicly spreading misleading information,” they said the acts should be punished solely under the Anti-Terror Law as the more serious crime.
All defendants face potential prison sentences ranging from three to 12 years if convicted.
The first day of the third hearing drew significant attention, with numerous İstanbul Bar officials, defense lawyers and observers present. Representatives from more than 30 bar associations and 17 international legal organizations attended the proceedings as observers, along with bar presidents and senior figures from the legal profession.
The İstanbul Bar Association has objected to the trial being held inside a prison complex rather than at the İstanbul Courthouse in Çağlayan, arguing that the venue violates constitutional guarantees of a fair and public trial.
The bar cited Article 36 of the Constitution, which enshrines the right to a fair trial, and Article 141, which establishes the principle of open hearings. It sought a referral to the Constitutional Court over the legality of holding hearings outside a courthouse, a request rejected by the trial court and later referred to a higher court for review.
The criminal proceedings are running alongside a separate civil case stemming from the same social media statement. On March 21, 2025, a civil court ordered the dismissal of Kaboğlu and the elected executive board on grounds of acting outside the bar’s mandate.
The Union of Turkish Bar Associations described that decision as unconstitutional and politically motivated, warning that it undermines the autonomy and self-governance of professional legal bodies.
International pressure to drop charges
The latest hearing comes amid mounting international pressure. In a statement issued Monday, Amnesty International and dozens of international and domestic legal organizations called on Turkish authorities to drop what they described as baseless charges against the İstanbul Bar Association’s leadership.
The groups said the prosecution reflects the severe deterioration of the rule of law and democratic norms in Turkey and warned that anti-terror legislation is being misused to criminalize legitimate expression and professional duties.
They criticized the prosecutor’s approach for treating a rights-based statement as support for terrorism, describing it as judicial harassment and an abuse of criminal law. The organizations stressed that bar associations have a legal and ethical responsibility to speak out on human rights issues, the protection of journalists and alleged violations of international humanitarian law.
They also pointed to international standards, including rulings by the European Court of Human Rights and United Nations principles on the role of lawyers, which protect the independence and freedom of expression of legal professionals and their representative bodies.
The trial is continuing with the defendants and their lawyers expected to respond to the prosecution’s opinion in the coming days, before the court moves toward a final ruling.
