Journalist on trial for 'disinformation' over tweet about Feb. 6 earthquake aid

Duvar English

An Istanbul court on Sept. 23 held the first hearing for the case where journalist Evrim Kepenek is charged with “publicly disseminating misleading information” with a social media post following the Feb. 6 earthquakes. 

Kepenek wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter), "The gendarmerie has seized aid tents in Maraş province’s Pazarcık district, saying ‘all aid will be distributed through AFAD.’ Update: Many aid tents in the area are being seized."  

Kepenek defended herself in court by stating, “As a journalist, I shared a verified video and statement. Moreover, the decision leading to this statement was announced by President Erdoğan on February 6. What I wrote in my tweet was the result of actions following the official announcement. This is not something I fabricated or distorted,” according to reporting by the Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA). 

She continued, “No one attacked anyone after my post, and public order wasn’t disturbed. It’s clear that the conditions for the alleged crime were not met. In fact, the same footage was sent to other journalists and became news. The next day, members of parliament submitted inquiries about the issue. There is no lie or distortion here; it’s about telling the public the truth from a journalistic perspective.”

After Kepenek requested her acquittal, her lawyer Deniz Yazgan Şenay argued that the investigation should have been initiated by the prosecutor’s office, not based on an open-source research report. Şenay pointed out that the Constitutional Court had canceled the police's authority for "virtual patrol" in 2020, stating, "We are dealing with an indictment that should be dismissed. The post in question was shared by 200 people. It’s clear that 200 shares cannot disrupt public peace."

Şenay also mentioned that Presidential Decree No. 4, published in the Official Gazette on July 15, 2018, granted AFAD the authority to seize aid. The lawyer stressed that the report was timely, posed no concrete danger, and called for her client’s acquittal.

In December 2022, the Turkish parliament passed the “disinformation law” that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) said would protect the public.

The law carries a jail sentence of up to three years for anyone who spreads false or misleading information. However, the law has mostly been used to stifle journalists who report on corruption allegations on the government and the judiciary.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) ranked Turkey 165th out of 180 countries in its 2023 World Press Freedom Index.