Complainant Missing in Trial against Journalist and Rights Defender
Prof. Nur Bilgen repeatedly failed to appear at court in the case she filed against Prof. Şebnem Korur Fincancı, President of the Turkish Human Rights Foundation (TİHV), and Barış Yarkadaş, executive of the Gerçek Gündem ('Real Agenda') web site. Both defendants are facing prison terms because they criticized Birgen. At the 6th hearing on Friday (21 January), the court decided to issue a subpoena with an admonition for Birgen.
The hearing before the Kadıköy (Istanbul) 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance was attended by defendant Yarkadaş and his attorney Turan Aydoğan and Prof. Fincanı and her twelve legal representatives.
Plaintiff lawyer Tanıl Başkan requested to settle the issue with the statement Birgen gave to the prosecution. Birgen is the chair of the Institute for Forensic Medicine 3rd Specialization Chamber. Lawyer Başkan put forward that his client was not able to attend the hearing due to health reasons and presented a medical report.
Süleyman Anıl, one of Korur's joint attorneys, refused to accept the request, "We will ask questions according to the principle of cross-examination. If it is a matter of health reasons, a deputy judge should be sent to her".
Joint attorney Meriç Eyğboğlu questioned why Birgen only filed a complaint against Korur and presented several other negative writings about the complainant. "We think [the charges] stem from a personal enmity".
Aydoğan, lawyer of journalist Yarkadaş, claimed that the conditions for sending a "deputy judge" were not fulfilled. "She should be brought on compulsion, if necessary. We request to apply the same measures the court usually applies to other complainants".
Judge Gülden Tüysüz decreed to issue a subpoena with an admonition to Birgen. She decided that Birgen was going to be brought to court by the police in case she should not appear at the coming hearing. Tüysüz had already announced in the previous hearing, "If Birgen does not appear at the hearing, I will have her brought in on compulsion by the police".
Kavili: Birgen avoids our questions
In an interview with bianet, lawyer Ömer Kavili argued, "Complaint Birgen avoids the court because she knows that she will be asked questions regarding the inappropriateness of her behaviour according to the standards of her profession". Kavili evaluated the court's applications as unlawful.
"A common citizen would have been brought in on compulsion at the second hearing the latest. The defendants have still not been acquitted. This is also one kind of 'actual punishment'".
Tried for "insult of a public official"
Fincancı and Yarkadaş are tried under charges of "Insulting a public official via the press" under article 125/1-2-4 of the Turkish Criminal Code (TCK) on the grounds of an interview published on 22 July 2009 entitled "Why did they lift capital punishment". Both defendants are facing prison sentences of two years and eight months each. The interview was carried out by Gerçek Gündem website reporter Başak Günsever.
When TİHV board chair Fincancı was aked in the interview how Birgen obtained her current position, Fincancı replied: "It probably was a reward for her loyaltyThere are investigations about reports made by the Medical Chamber Honor Council concerning torture because evidence of torture had been hidden. Those reports probably gained her positive points on her record."
Birgen has been frequently criticized by the media because of her medical reports. In one of her reports she suggested to release detained Ergenekon defendants from detention. In another report she spoke out negatively about detainees in F-type prisons suffering from Wernicke Korskoff syndrom. (EÇ/EÖ/VK)