DGM Convicted Demir and Feyzioglu

The defendants faced prison terms up to 5 years. The court handed out a fine of 1 billion 289 million Turkish lira (815 USD) to publisher Demir, and 1 billion 111 million Turkish lira (703 USD) to writer Feyzioglu. The fines were suspended provided that the defendants do not commit the same crime again within the next five years.

Ilkiz: The Court of Cassation's reason to annul the decision is insufficient

Turhan Feyzioglu and his lawyer Fikret Ilkiz were present at the hearing at Istanbul State Security Court (DGM) on December 18.

Lawyer Ilkiz said during the hearing that he supported the first decision by the court made after the book was studied as a whole."We want an acquittal. If the court will decide on a punishment, we demand this is commuted into a fine or is suspended," continued Ilkiz...

The court sentenced publisher Demir to six months in prison and fined him 1 billion Turkish lira (633 USD). The court based its decisions on article 8/3 of the Turkish terrorism law and provision no: 4424 and 4744.

Demir's sentence and fine were later commuted to a prison term of 5 months and 833 million Turkish lira (527 USD). The court later commuted the prison term into a fine and handed Demir a fine of 1 billion 289 million Turkish lira (815 USD), and suspended the fine.

The court first sentenced writer Feyzioglu to a year in prison and fined him 1 billion Turkish lira (633 USD). It later augmented the punishments one thirds and handed out Feyzioglu a prison term of a year and four months, and a fine of one billion 333 million Turkish lira (844 USD). The court later reduced the punishments to one year, one month and 10 days in prison 1 billion 111 million Turkish lira fine (703 USD). It lastly suspended the punishments.

Lawyer Ilkiz said he would appeal the decision.

Publisher Demir told Bianet the following:

* At a time when there are efforts to close down the DGMs, trying to urgently finalize the cases at the DGMs demonstrates how connected the legal and political systems are in Turkey.

* As efforts continue to improve freedoms and democracy in Turkey, I wonder how fast the DGM prosecutors act on criminal cases.

"If a document published 31 years ago can be considered as an element of crime, a document from 50 or 100, or 500 years ago could also be considered as an element of crime," said writer Feyzioglu. "I do not have a single evaluation or comment in that book. It is a biography of Ibrahim Kaypakkaya, who died in 1973."

History of the case

The book was published on April 17, 2000. A Turkish court in September 2001 acquitted Feyzioglu and Demir, who were charged on grounds of "propagating for TKP/ML-TIKKO," and "article 169 or the Turkish Penal Code," which regulates "helping terrorist organizations."

Despite judge Fikri Talman's objection, a court of cassation overruled with majority vote, the acquittal of the writer and publisher on December 10, 2001. (EO/BB/EA/NM)