Arbitrary book ban against imprisoned journalist Nedim Türfent

The letter where Türfent wrote about the book ban was censored by the prison letter committee as well.

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Arbitrary book ban against imprisoned journalist Nedim Türfent

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Having been imprisoned for 1,979 days at Van Prison, journalist Nedim Türfent said an arbitrary book ban was imposed on him.

"I received your letter in the first week of March. The note '1 book was delivered to the education unit," was written on the envelope. As per this routine procedure, the education unit reviews the received material and delivers that it finds 'appropriate' with an 'appropriate' on it. After the review, it was confiscated for 'reasons' that I still laugh at," he wrote in a letter on April 14.

As he wanted to tell his colleagues "outside" about this arbitrary book ban, Türfent once again faced censorship. The three-and-a-half-line area in his letter was scribbled by the letter reading commission so that it could not be read.

"If an attorney comes, I'll apply to the Constitutional Court. Because definitely a verdict of violation will be given. There are dozens, tons of precedent rulings, I hope the attorney comes by."

The imprisonment of Nedim Türfent

While he was a reporter for the Dicle News Agency (DİHA), which was closed by a Statutory Decree, journalist Nedim Türfent was detained in Yüksekova in Turkey's Kurdish-majority Hakkari province on May 12, 2016.

One day later, he was arrested on charge of "being a member of a terrorist organization." He was indicted 13 months after his arrest. When his first hearing was held on June 14, 2017, he had been behind bars for 399 days.

Of 20 witnesses who previously spoke against him, 19 witnesses later said that they testified under torture and withdrew their statements. However, disregarding this, the court sentenced Nedim Türfent to 8 years, 9 months in prison, based on the first witness statements.

This ruling, dated May 21, 2019, was upheld by the Court of Cassation on May 21, 2019. His individual application is still awaiting examination by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).

(HA/VK)

Origin

BIA News Desk

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Atatürk Üniversitesi, İletişim Fakültesi Gazetecilik Bölümü’nden 2016’da mezun oldu. 2020’de aynı üniversitenin Gazetecilik Anabilim Dalı’nda yüksek lisansını tamamladı. Tezinde “Hapishanesiz Toplum Arayışı ve Mahpus Odaklı Habercilik” konusunu çalıştı. Freelance gazeteci olarak çalışan ve hak odaklı habercilik alanında çalışmalarını sürdüren yazarın, “Hapishanesiz Toplum Arayışı; Türkiye’nin Hapishane Karnesi ve Mahpus Odaklı Habercilik” adında Lejand yayınlarından çıkan bir kitabı bulunuyor.