Deniz Yücel elected as the President of PEN Germany

* Photo: Roberto Bulgrin (Deniz Yücel / Twitter)

Click to read the article in Turkish / Kurdish

International writers' association PEN's Germany center elected its new president at Paul's Church in Frankfurt yesterday (October 26).

At the general assembly meeting of PEN Germany, 48-year-old Die Welt reporter Deniz Yücel was elected the new President.

As reported by DW Türkçe, Regula Venske, who had been the head of PEN Germany since 2017, did not become a candidate for the position.

PEN Germany has announced its new President on Twitter: "Now it's official: Deniz Yücel has just been elected as the new President of the German PEN at the PEN General Assembly in Frankfurt's Paulskirche!"

Jetzt ist es offiziell: Soeben wurde #DenizYücel zum neuen Präsidenten des deutschen PEN auf der PEN-Mitgliederversammlung in der Frankfurter Paulskirche gewählt! @besserdeniz pic.twitter.com/Y6TRSQumjv

— PEN Deutschland (@PEN_Deutschland) October 26, 2021

He was arrested in Turkey

Deniz Yücel was taken into custody in Turkey on February 14, 2017 over his news reports concerning the hacking of the then Energy Minister Berat Albayrak's email account by RedHack. He was arrested by the court on February 27, 2017 on charges of "propagandizing for a terrorist organization" and "provoking the public to hatred and hostility."

Speaking about the issue, President and Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan briefly said:

"This man is a terrorist, not a journalist and unfortunately the German government lumps my ministers together with this terrorist. The problem lies here. German Chancellor Angela Merkel told me 'We would be glad if you free him'. I told her he is not a journalist but a terrorist. Deniz Yücel hid in the German Consulate General. This man is a terrorist, not a journalist".

Deniz Yücel stayed behind bars for nearly a year. Following the indictment issued against him, the İstanbul 32nd Heavy Penal Court ruled for the release of Deniz Yücel on February 16, 2018. Yücel went to Germany after he was released from prison in Turkey.

While he was still arrested, Yücel made an individual application to the Constitutional Court. His file was examined by the top court two years after the incident, on June 28, 2019. The Constitutional Court concluded that his one-year imprisonment violated his rights and ruled that he should be paid 25 thousand lira in non-pecuniary damages. However, the local court ruled that his statement taken in Berlin should be awaited.

At the hearing held on February 13, 2020, the prosecutor announced the opinion as to the accusations and demanded that Deniz Yücel be sentenced to 15 years, 3 months in prison. It was alleged that Deniz Yücel, with some articles published in Die Welt, "propagandized for the Kurdistan Workers Party / Kurdistan Communities Union (PKK/KCK)."

Announcing its ruling at the final hearing on July 16, 2020, the court ruled that Yücel should be acquitted of "provoking the public to hatred and hostility and sentenced him to 2 years, 9 months, 22 days in prison for "propagandizing for the PKK/KCK armed terrorist organization" via the press.

The court also ruled that a criminal complaint should be filed against Deniz Yücel over his two articles published in Die Welt in 2016 on the grounds that he allegedly "insulted the President" and "degraded the State of the Republic of Turkey, its government, judicial bodies and the security organization of the state" as per the Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK).

Upon this criminal complaint, a new lawsuit was filed against Yücel and a prison sentence of 6 months to 2 years was demanded for him. The first hearing of this trial was held on May 12, 2021.

About PEN

The organization known today as PEN International began in London, UK, in 1921, simply as PEN. Within four years, there were 25 PEN Centres in Europe, and by 1931 there were several Centres in South America as well as China. It is a worldwide association of writers to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere. The association has autonomous International PEN centers in over 100 countries.

Its Germany center is in Darmstadt, Hessen. (TP/SD)