Koçali was a writer of the now-closed Özgür Gündem newspaper and a member of its Editorial Consulting Board. She was charged with “terrorist organisation propaganda”, “praising offences and offenders” and “publicly inciting people to commit crime” over one of her published articles on 8 March 2016. Along with newspaper’s other writers and co-executive editors, the prosecution demanded that Koçali be sentenced to imprisonment of between 18 months and 12 years.
Koçali was charged over her three published articles as part of the trial publicly known as the “Özgür Gündem Newspaper Main Court Case”, which charged the newspaper’s managers and writers. Koçali was charged with “disruption of the unity and territorial integrity of the state”, “membership of an armed terrorist organisation” and “terrorist organisation propaganda”. The prosecution demanded one aggravated life sentence and an imprisonment sentence of between 15 years and 32 years for Koçali. The case files were separated due to Koçali being abroad and her defensive statement not having been submitted. The trial is currently underway in absentia.