The third hearing of the trial in which journalist Vedat Örüç was charged with “membership in an organization” (TCK 314/2) based on his insurance records, conversations with colleagues, and phone calls took place on November 18, 2025, at the Mersin 6th Heavy Penal Court. Örüç, who was present at the hearing, said that the prosecutor had made accusations by “reading his mind” and recalled that he had been unjustly detained for four and a half months. He emphasized that his friends, who had been arrested on the same evidence, had been acquitted, but his trial was still ongoing. The prosecutor requested that the judicial control measures continue, stating that the examination of the digital materials had not been completed. Örüç said that despite sharing all his information openly for eleven months, the ban on leaving the country had not been lifted, stating that this was pressure aimed at removing the journalist from his profession. He demanded that the ban be lifted, saying, “For a journalist, freedom of travel is as indispensable as a pen.” The court decided to investigate the fate of the digital materials and to continue the ban on Örüç leaving the country, postponing the case until January 8, 2026.
November 18, 2025
Expression Interrupted