3 Years' Sentence for Threat against Armenian Weekly

The Şişli (Istanbul) 2^nd Criminal Court of First Instance found Yasin Yıldız guilty of threat and insult and handed down a prison sentence of three years and three months to him. Yasin was convicted on the grounds of e-mails he had sent to employees of the weekly Armenian Agos newspaper after the murder of Agos editor-in-chief Hrant Dink in 2007.

Local courts in Şişli had previously sentenced Kenan Celepoğlu to a monetary fine of TL 8,000 (€ 4,000) in compensation because e-mails sent to the Armenian weekly containing insult, threat and racism. In the same context, Muhammet Karay received a prison sentence of three years and three months; Zafer Filiz was sentenced for three years and Rıdvan Doğan for two years in jail. Requests to suspend the sentences of the four un-detained defendants were dismissed.

Punishment for "threat" postponed

Yıldız accepted the charges pressed against him in the hearing on 10 June. He stated that he had been agitated because of the publications and propaganda related to the Turkish-Armenian question. He sent the e-mails to the address of the newspaper as a way to let off steam, he claimed.

The joint attorneys of the weekly put forward that the newspaper employees were harassed by the messages since they contained insults, threats and racism. Thus, they filed a criminal complaint.

In accordance with the prosecutor's final submission, the court decreed for a three-year sentence based on "threat" and another three months imprisonment for "insult". The latter punishment was postponed.

Lawyer Çetin: Positive approach of the judiciary

Joint Agos attorney Fethiye Çetin had previously told bianet that judiciary decisions had changed into a positive direction after the Dink murder. Yet, Çetin conceded, threats via the internet were still continuing since the medium was difficult to control.

In the latest incident in February, the Agos web site was being hacked and a picture of Dink murder suspect Ogün Samast was posted to the main page.

Positive decisions

Agos newspaper received several threats before the murder of Hrant Dink which had not been sanctioned. The newspaper lawyers had criticized that also after the murder applications regarding ongoing threats via e-mail had not been properly considered.

On the other hand, four decisions with intimidating potential were taken in the scope of four different cases in the meantime. In December 2009, the Şişli 2^nd Magistrate Criminal Court decreed for a compensation of TL 8,000 to be paid by Kenan Celepoğlu by reason of insulting, threatening and racist e-mails sent to Agos. The lawyers had filed a complaint because of the messages sent by an unknown sender. The court managed to identify Celepoğlu in the course of the referring investigation.

Muhammet Karay received a three years and three months prison sentence from the Şişli 1^st Criminal Court of First Instance on 28 May 2009 for threatening Agos newspaper employees and Armenians with the e-mails he had sent.

Zafer Filiz received a prison sentence of three years from the Şişli 9^th Criminal Court of First Instance on 20 March 2008 on the grounds of threatening the newspaper 12 days after the assassination of editor Hrant Dink.

The same court handed down a two years sentence to 19-year-old Rıdvan Doğan in October 2007 due to threats he had sent to the newspaper after the Dink murder. The sentence was suspended and the court decreed for a probation period of two years. (EÖ/VK)