Ali Kişmir Trial Adjourned to January 20

The session at the Nicosia District Court was presided over by Judge Zehra Yalkut Bilgeç, with prosecutor Hasan Boşnak representing the Attorney General's Office. Kişmir, who faces up to 10 years in prison, was represented by Cyprus Turkish Bar Association President Hasan Esendağlı. The prosecution did not object to the defense’s referral request.

DEFENSE AND COURT STATEMENTS

Following the hearing, Basın-Sen lawyer Cansu N. Nazlı addressed the media, explaining the grounds of the defense's verbal request for referral to the Constitutional Court. Nazlı noted that the prosecution raised no objections to the request and that the court postponed the case to deliberate on whether to refer it to the Constitutional Court.

“The court will decide whether the case will proceed to the Constitutional Court,” Nazlı stated, adding that if the request is granted, the process will continue through the Constitutional Court.

STATEMENT FROM MUSTAFA KULELİ

Vice President of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), Mustafa Kuleli, attended the hearing in solidarity, highlighting that the EFJ represents over 320,000 journalists across Europe.

“The hearts of 320,000 journalists are with Ali Kişmir and the journalists of Cyprus today,” Kuleli said. He emphasized that colleagues across Europe are closely following the case and expressed his strong belief that press freedom will ultimately prevail.