Journalist Cevher Ilhan Freed On Appeal

Journalist Ilhan Cevher of Yeni Asya was released on Jan. 15 in line with the amendments in Article 312 of the Turkish Penal Code. He was arrested on Jan. 13 for his article about the 1999 earthquake in Turkey and released upon the appeal by his lawyer Mehmet Ali Aslan.

Cevher’s release comes after the amendment of the description of the crime in Article 312. In the new version, the article is restructured to include the criteria of “clear and imminent danger” and “call for violence”.

The appeal was upheld by Istanbul’s 11th First Instance Court what replaced the 3rd National Security Court who had previously sentenced journalist Cevher to 25 months. 11th First Instance Court overturned the previous decision in line with the recent amendments in penal code and procedures.

Aslan: “A big mistake corrected”

Lawyer Aslan criticizes the prosecutors that they have rushed for executing the sentence notwithstanding the amendments in the law: “The prosecutors attempted to execute a verdict ruled by a now extinct National Security Court, yet the case should have been brought before a first instance court instead. We are happy that this error has been resolved before the religious holiday.” (EÖ/YS)