Prison Sentence for "Propaganda in Kurdish"

Democratic Society Party (DTP) members Cemal Çoşgun and Şeyhmuz Seyhan are sentenced to 6 months imprisonment by the Izmir 6th Magistrate Criminal Court. The court found them guilty of spreading Kurdish propaganda prior the local elections on 29 March earlier this year. Coşgun was the DTP mayor candidate for the Karabağlar Municipality, Seyan campaigned for the district of Gazidemir.

The preliminary discussion on the General Discussion Proposal regarding the "Democratic Initiative" signed by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will be discussed in the Turkish General Assembly today.

Also on the agenda today in this context is the "Kurdish Initiative" and the permission to run a campaign in the electoral district in Kurdish. However, this reform comes too late for Çoşgun and Seyhan.

Prison sentence for addressing electorate in Kurdish

The court convicted Coşgun and Seyhan in the hearing on 3 November on the basis of law no. 298 entitled "Law on basic decrees of elections and electorate registers" (article 59 and 151/2). The prison sentence of 6 months was converted into a fine of 3,000 Turkish Lira (approximately € 1350) each.

Both former candidates were found guilty of addressing their electorate, which is predominantly not familiar with the Turkish language, in Kurdish.

"If the constitution changes, my case will be dropped"

Çoşgun stated that he was going to file an appeal against the decision, "This is nothing else but the government's distraction from the Kurdish initiative. The Prime Minister and the Ministers speak Kurdish, TRT Şeş broadcasts in Kurdish but if Kurds speak Kurdish they face penalties. They show how much sense they implemented in the initiative", Çoşgun argued.

Coşgun emphasized the need of a democratic and civil constitution, saying, "If a really democratic constitution will be issued, this case will be dropped anyways".

Kurdish propaganda "forbidden"

Article58 of Law 298 on "Prohibitions concerning Publishing Propaganda" states, "The Turkish flag and religious phrases are forbidden on of flyers and any other kind of printed papers used for propaganda. The use of any language other than Turkish in spoken and written form is forbidden for propaganda broadcasts on television and radio".

Article 151/2 foresees a prison sentence between 3 and 6 months and a fine between 15,000 and 75,000 TL (€ 6,800-34,000) for propaganda "made later than 6.00 pm the day prior to the elections and in public places and places open to the public on the day of the election; or pronouncements published in this intend or with the purpose to disturb the election in any way or effecting a free voting". (EÖ/VK)