Court of appeals overturns verdict on journalist Kurşun, finds prison term insufficient

* Photo: MA

Click to read the article in Turkish

The court of appeals has overturned the prison sentence of Çetin Kurşun, a reporter for the shuttered Azadiya Welat newspaper.

A reporter for the newspaper which was closed by a Statutory Decree, Kurşun was previously sentenced to 3 years in prison on charge of "successively propagandizing for a terrorist organization."

As reported by Mezopotamya Agency (MA), the court of appeals examined the file again upon the appeal of the Mardin 2nd High Criminal Court's prosecutor. The court of appeals has demanded that the trial be held on charge of "being a member of a terrorist organization."

Demanding the journalist's penalization on this charge, the appeals court has found the 3-year prison sentence "against the law" and argued that the website called Ciwannews and allegedly belonging to Kurşun had "content in support of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)."

The appeals court argued that when some factors such as the content of the news and how they were presented, "it is understood that the news source was the armed terrorist organization and the defendant published the news obtained from the organization upon instruction."

Referring to the local court ruling, the appeals court has argued that "the court gave a ruling as a result of a mistaken evaluation and insufficient justification without considering that the acts of the defendant constituted the offense of being a member of an armed terrorist organization."

The retrial of Kurşun will begin in upcoming days.

The journalist has denounced the reversal of the appeals court, noting that both court rulings are unlawful.

What happened?

Taken into custody in Mardin's Kızıltepe on February 6, 2018 together with his brother Sedat Kurşun, Çetin Kurşun, a reporter for Azadiya Welat newspaper, was arrested. He was released on May 30, 2019.

In his trial for "membership of a terrorist organization", he was sentenced to 3 years in prison for "successive terror propaganda". (KÖ/SD)