6 years and 3 Months in Prison for Journalist Yunus Önal
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Verdict has been rendered in the lawsuit in which former bianet Kurdish section editor Yunus Önal was charged with “being a member of an [illegal] organization”; Önal was sentenced to 6 years and 3 months in prison on Turkish Penal Code (TCK) Article 314/2 (being a member of an armed organization).
Public Prosecutor Nedim Özbey prepared the indictment based on dancing the halay with the song “Oremar”, attending a press conference on education in mother tongue, and witness statement.
Bitlis 2nd Heavy Penal Court accepted the indictment and opened the case on the TCK 314/2 over “being a member of an [illegal] organization”.
Önal: This is a conjunctural trial
Speaking to bianet, Önal said:
“I believe this is a conjunctural trial in both its investigation and verdict stages. The verdict seems to prove my point. What I did was journalism. I worked with Kurdish, which has been banned for decades and is despised by the state. I voiced my most humane demands in a democratic way within the framework of the freedom of expression. I told these in my plea as well.
“However, it is of course impossible to expect a trial complying with universal legal norms from the rationale of a government which has burned down the Kurdish cities since 2015, sent hundreds of journalists and the MPs elected by millions to prisons, closed down a large number of media outlets. Because in this conjunctural, even mentioning the word ‘Kurdish’ is sufficient to be targeted by the government.
“A court rendering such an absurd verdict with ‘offenses’ like ideological halay, demand for education in mother tongue just to suppress people is an indicator of how Turkey disregards the universal legal norms. My response to this situation is; I am glad that I’ve become a right defender, a journalist and a teacher”.
Witness statement was let out of consideration
Statement of a witness who was not included in neither investigation nor prosecution questioning was put in the file. The aforementioned witness S.T. had said “He is in charge of group’s (PKK) junior branch“, but in the hearing, he said “I couldn’t recognize the person whom I saw on TV and you called Yunus Önal, I don’t recall seeing him before”. Nevertheless, this statement was left out of consideration.
Even though the person alleged to be the witness said he doesn’t know Yunus Önal, the court in its reasoned decision regarded Önal covering HDP’s candidate introduction night as a Dicle News Agency (DİHA) correspondent, attending press conference on education in mother tongue, dancing the halay and being present in places where slogans were chanted as evidence.
Önal’s attorney Mimar Önal objected against the court decision at Erzurum Regional Court of Appeal. The decision is awaited.
Önal was sacked because of the investigation
An investigation was launched concerning this case as Yunus Önal was working as Kurdish editor for Sputnik. Önal was blocked by police officers as he was heading home and was taken into custody on March 18, 2016. Remaining in custody for two days, Önal was released following the prosecutor’s office’s questioning. Sputnik sacked Önal after his detention was covered in the media.
About YunusÖnal
Önal graduated from Department of Social Sciences in Education Faculty at 19 Mayıs University. He started to study for master at the same department. He wrote his thesis on Women’s Representation in Kurdish Folklore. He taught Kurdish in Kurdi-Der, which was closed with a Statutory Decree.
He started journalism at the DİHA. He served as publishing coordinator at Mevsimlik Magazine and as editor-in-chief at Radio Dengê Kurdî. He worked as an editor at Sputnik and most recently, he was a bianet Kurdî editor from May 2016 to April 2017. (EA/TK)