Silivri Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office has completed the gendarmerie procedures for the nine suspects detained in the investigation it relaunched into the death of former National Intelligence Organization (MİT) officer Kaşif Kozinoğlu in prison on November 12, 2011. The suspects—one journalist, one cameraman and seven healthcare workers—were referred to the courthouse. The prosecutor’s office referred journalist Selahattin Günday to the judgeship with a request for his arrest on charges of “disclosing information and documents related to intelligence activities” and “unlawfully obtaining or disseminating personal data,” and two ATT on charges of “intentional killing.” While Selahattin Günday and the two ATT were arrested, six people, including cameraman İdris Tiftikçi, were released under judicial control. Günday’s lawyer, Hüseyin Ersöz, argued that his client had been arrested based on Article 27 of the MİT Law, which was not in force at the time and was amended in 2014, on the grounds that he had reported on footage of Kozinoğlu, who was taken to Beşiktaş Courthouse in 2011. Ersöz announced that they would challenge the rulings.
Why it matters
The reopening of the investigation shows that the death in prison in 2011 is being examined not only in terms of healthcare practices but also with regard to the sharing of footage and information related to the incident. The fact that the case involves charges of both “intentional killing” and “disseminating intelligence information and unlawfully obtaining personal data” in the same process indicates that the investigation is addressing different areas of responsibility together. The claim that the journalist was charged under a law amended in 2014 and reportedly not in force at the time of the incident raises a fundamental debate concerning the application of criminal law over time and the limits of journalistic activity. Appeals against the arrest and judicial control rulings leave open the question of how these legal grounds and the evidence in the investigation will be assessed.