The Constitutional Court ruled that the 1 year and 6 month prison sentence imposed on Ragıp Duran, who served as acting editor-in-chief of Özgür Gündem newspaper for one day in 2016, did not constitute a violation of freedom of expression and press freedom. The Court ruled that the intervention, based on the grounds that the news and images published on May 14, 2016 legitimized the PKK and encouraged violence, was necessary and proportionate in terms of the democratic social order. The Constitutional Court rejected Duran’s defense that he had assumed the role symbolically and stated that the position of editor-in-chief carries legal responsibility. On these grounds, it found the individual application inadmissible.
December 12, 2025
bianet