News Center- The second hearing of the trial against journalist Elif Akgül over terrorism charges for her social media posts was held on Thursday at the Istanbul 13th High Criminal Court. Elif Akgül and Emine Özhasar and Muhammed Ünsal, two lawyers of the Law Unit of the Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA) were present at the hearing.

Prosecution requested prison sentence

During the first hearing, the prosecution submitted the opinion, requesting a prison sentence for the journalist on charges of “Propagandizing for a (terrorist) organization”. At the second hearing, the prosecution repeated its opinion.

“There were no elements of the propaganda crime in my posts. I am innocent, I demand my acquittal,” the journalist said in her defense.

‘She used her freedom of speech and the press’

“In one of the posts, my client criticized the photograph showing the members of ISIS, considered a terrorist organization by the state, and Turkish soldiers are greeting each other,” lawyer Emine Özhasar said at the hearing. “In the second post, she used the ‘guerrilla’ word. My client used her freedom of speech in that post. There were no elements of the propaganda crime in her posts. I demand the acquittal of my client.”

‘Living in peace is my constitutional right’

The judge asked Elif Akgül if she wanted to say something more. “Living in peace and opposing war is my constitutional right. I request the court to make a decision that respects the constitutional rights of the citizens of the Republic of Türkiye,” she said.

The court has ruled the acquittal of journalist Elif Akgül.