• About Us
  • Who Are We
  • Work With Us
Sunday, January 17, 2021
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Globe Post
39 °f
New York
44 ° Fri
46 ° Sat
40 ° Sun
41 ° Mon
No Result
View All Result
The Globe Post
No Result
View All Result
Home Featured

In Historic Defense, Novelist Denounces Indictment As ‘Judicial Porn’

Abdullah Ayasun by Abdullah Ayasun
06/23/17
in Featured, Middle East
In Historic Defense, Novelist Denounces Indictment As ‘Judicial Porn’

Novelist Ahmet Altan

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

“The AKP will lose its position of power and stand trial.” So said Ahmet Altan, a critically acclaimed novelist and former chief editor of the Taraf daily, a day before July 15 coup.

During a televised program he attended with his brother Mehmet Altan, co-host of the program along with veteran journalist Nazli Ilicak, on now defunct Can Erzincan TV on July 14, Ahmet Altan spoke about his latest novel, its relevance for contemporary Turkish politics and Turkey’s modern political history that was so much interrupted by a series of military interventions during the second half of the 20th century.

The novel was a literary thrust to turbulent years in the early 1910s under the leadership of the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) or Young Turks, a period that saw a steady descent into one war after another that finally brought the demise of the Ottoman Empire in the most dramatic way.

The timeline of his last novel Dying Is Easier Than Loving was set during the Balkan Wars, a prelude that plunged the Empire into the Great War.

“On the background of the personal adventures of the characters, this novel tells the story of the Balkan Wars and the incompetence of the Ittihatci [CUP] leaders who came to power as well as the brutalities they implemented in order to hide their failure to govern the country properly,” Ahmet Altan said in his defense read to the court via teleconference from prison.

The analogy was unmistakable. “That is why the Ittihatci leaders of the day and the AKP [Justice and Development Party] government whose present-day policies are very similar to those of the Ittihatci leaders were discussed,” he said, evoking a distant past that, according to Mr. Altan and many people, bears striking similarities with today’s Turkey.

But it was his forecasting that the ruling AKP will lose hold on power and its leaders will face a trial that produced a lasting trouble for him.

“The AKP will lose its position of power and stand trial.” For this sentence, Prosecutor Can Tuncay seeks 3 aggravated life sentences for Ahmet Altan.

In a lengthy defense, Mr. Altan set out to deconstruct the inconsistencies and incoherent charges embedded in the indictment. He called the charges as absurd and portrayed the indictment as “judicial porn,” after documenting so many contradictions, claims deprived of context and evidence, and unmistakable nature of politically-motivated charges throughout the indictment.

Altan Slams ‘Guilt By Association’ Mentality

Before indulging in his defense, Mr. Altan said the indictment, which is written very poorly in Turkish, deserves no legal defense as there is no fair trial and an independent judiciary.

“This poor indictment, which not only lacks intelligence but also legality, is too meek to carry the immense weight of the aggravated life sentence it requests and does not deserve a serious defense,” Mr. Altan added a caveat before starting to offer a meticulous, step-by-step argument to refute charges.

The reason for his defense is not an expectation for justice to be served, but leaving a historical document to future generations and a record for the day when the rule of law is re-established in the country.

According to the indictment, the prosecutor accuses Mr. Altan of having links to the putschists and Gulen movement, which had been designated by the Turkish government as a terrorist organization.

But how he builds a link between Mr. Altan and the coup plotters appears to be misplaced and unconvincing.

“We are said to know the men who are alleged to know the men who are alleged to have directed the coup,” Mr. Altan said, in a mocking way to dismantle the logic structure behind the accusation.

“There are said to be some men who directed this coup … There are said to be some men who knew these men… And we are said to know those men,” P24, an independent media platform, quoted a translation of his defense.

To build the link, the prosecutor cited figures from media whom Ahmet Altan worked with in the past, and had some contacts to a very limited extent during encounters in Turkey’s media ecosystem.

But any encounter or meeting with someone who are later accused by the Turkish authorities does not constitute a crime in itself. “How can “knowing” someone be accepted as the evidence of a crime?” Mr. Altan asked the court.

“If you know a criminal, does that make you a criminal, too?

If your neighbor is tried of counterfeiting, will you also be tried for counterfeiting because you know him? And if your neighbor divorced from his wife, will you also be considered divorced from your wife because you know your neighbor?” he said in an attempt to expose what he says self-contradictions that gripped the entire indictment.

He said there should be an individual active involvement in a crime to be held responsible. And any involvement in a criminal act must be documented with strong proof for legal proceedings, for a prosecution.

But Ahmet Altan says the prosecutor simply disregards the factor of individual responsibility for crimes, the need to provide a substantial evidence to link someone to a crime, not ‘guilt by association’ approach that has become commonplace in hundreds of trials across Turkey.

He appeared unapologetic for his earlier criticism of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his government. But he dismissed the prosecutor’s linking of his journalistic criticism of President Erdogan with taking part in a putsch, a charge that he simply regards as absurd, surreal and stupid.

“In one of his novels, John Fowles says that all the judges in the world are judged by their own decisions.

You, too, will be judged by your own decisions.

How you want to be judged, whatever kind of verdict you would like yourself, how you would like to be remembered, judge accordingly,” Ahmet Altan said in his closing remarks.

“Because you are the one who will be judged,” P24 quoted him as saying.

********

This article was possible thanks to your donations. Please keep supporting us here.

 

ShareTweet
Abdullah Ayasun

Abdullah Ayasun

Staff Writer

Related Posts

Veteran journalist Can Dundar fled to Germany after he was released pending trial.
Media Freedom

Turkish Court Sentences Exiled Journalist Dundar to 27 Years in Prison

by Staff Writer
December 23, 2020
Turkish police in Istanbul.
Democracy at Risk

Turkey Detains Nearly 200 Over Links to US-Based Muslim Preacher

by Staff Writer
December 8, 2020
Police officers in Istanbul
Media Freedom

Russia Urges Release of Reporters Detained in Turkey

by Staff Writer
December 7, 2020
A "police" sign in front of the Istanbul courthouse.
Media Freedom

Two Russian Reporters Held in Turkey for Filming Drone Production Unit

by Staff Writer
December 4, 2020
Azeris celebrate in the streets of Baku, Azerbaijan, November 10, 2020.
World

Armenia, Azerbaijan Agree to Nagorno-Karabakh Peace Deal

by Staff Writer
November 10, 2020
Rescuers search for survivors in rubble
World

14 Dead, Buildings Collapse as Major Quake Hits Turkey, Greece

by Staff Writer
October 30, 2020
Next Post
Turkish Court Rejects Releasing Journalists In Media Trial

Turkish Court Rejects Releasing Journalists In Media Trial

Biker Kicks Car In Road Rage and All Hell Breaks Loose

Biker Kicks Car In Road Rage and All Hell Breaks Loose

Please login to join discussion

Recommended

The filing was submitted by Justice Department lawyers on Thursday, January 14.

US Rioters Sought to ‘Capture and Assassinate’ Lawmakers at Capitol: Prosecutors

January 15, 2021
Biden proposes raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour.

Biden Unveils $1.9 Tn Economic Plan as US Recovery Buckles

January 14, 2021
Senegalese soldiers from the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali, MINUSMA, July 24, 2019.

UN Peacekeeper Killed in Mali, Seven Wounded: Spokesman

January 13, 2021
President Donald Trump in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House.

Threatening Democracy: The Choice Between Progress and Extremism Has Never Been So Clear

January 13, 2021
Jake Angeli speaks to a US Capitol Police officer.

American Democracy Will Prevail

January 13, 2021
People march against climate change in Bordeaux, southwestern France, on October 13, 2018.

NGOs Accuse France of Climate Inaction in Landmark Court Case

January 13, 2021

Opinion

President Donald Trump in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House.

Threatening Democracy: The Choice Between Progress and Extremism Has Never Been So Clear

January 13, 2021
Jake Angeli speaks to a US Capitol Police officer.

American Democracy Will Prevail

January 13, 2021
Pro-Trump protester in front of Capitol Hill.

Riots at Capitol Hill: Darkness Before the Dawn?

January 8, 2021
Volunteers are given the Moderna vaccine on August 5, 2020, in Detroit, Michigan.

Who’s First-in-Line for the Vaccine? A Classic Problem in Medical Ethics

December 30, 2020
A sorghum farmer inspects her small grains crop thriving in the dry conditions in March in the Mutoko rural area of Zimbabwe

The 10-Year Food Systems Revolution Must Start Now

December 22, 2020
Playing the Un-Naming Game in New York Is Harder Than It Seems

Pandenomics: The High Cost of Living While Undocumented in the United States

December 22, 2020
Facebook Twitter

Newsletter

Do you like our reporting?
SUBSCRIBE

About Us

The Globe Post

The Globe Post is part of Globe Post Media, a U.S. digital news organization that is publishing the world's best targeted news sites.

submit oped

© 2018 The Globe Post

No Result
View All Result
  • National
  • World
  • Business
  • Interviews
  • Lifestyle
  • Democracy at Risk
    • Media Freedom
  • Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Columns
    • Book Reviews
    • Stage
  • Submit Op-ed

© 2018 The Globe Post