Journalist Aziz Oruç Handed Prison Sentence over Social Media Posts

The reporter has been sentenced to prison for retweeting posts of the news agency he was working for.

İstanbul

Journalist Aziz Oruç Handed Prison Sentence over Social Media Posts

Click to read the article in Turkish

Journalist Aziz Oruç has been sentenced to 2 years and 1 month in prison for "propagandizing for a terrorist organization" in the trial over social media messages he posted in 2016.

Oruç was detained on December 11 after entering Turkey from Iran and has been remanded in custody at Patnos Type L Prison in the eastern Ağrı province since December 18.

CLICK - Journalist Aziz Oruç Detained After Iran 'Forced Him to Illegally Cross the Border'

Oruç attended the hearing at Diyarbakır 9th Heavy Penal Court via Audio and Video Information System (SEGBIS).

In his defense statement, he said that "As I said in the last hearing, I am a journalist. The posts shared are news content. 10 of my posts stated in the indictment are news, [they have] no propaganda content."

Saying that he retweeted posts by Dicle News Agency (DİHA), he requested his acquittal.

Oruç is a former reporter for the DİHA, which was shut down with a statutory degree by the government in 2016.

Attorney Ferhat Kılıç stated that Oruç was working for the DİHA when he shared the posts in question and requested the acquittal of his client.

The court sentenced Oruç to prison for "propagandizing for a terrorist organization" as per Article 7/2 of the Law on Fight Against Terrorism (TMK).

TMK Article 7/2

Any person making propaganda for a terrorist organization shall be punished with imprisonment from one to five years. If this crime is committed through means of mass media, the penalty shall be
aggravated by one half.

What happened?

Journalist Aziz Oruç, a reporter for the Dicle News Agency (DİHA) closed by a Statutory Decree, had been living in Iraq for the past three years due to the lawsuits filed against him in Turkey.

Leaving Iraq for Iran to reach Europe through Armenia, he was taken into custody at Armenia border gate. Subjected to police violence in custody in Armenia, Oruç was turned over to the soldiers of Iran.

Oruç was forced to cross the border to Turkey through the wire fence on the Turkey-Iran border on December 11. He was taken into custody with HDP Doğubayazıt District Co-Chair Abdullah Ekelek, whom he asked for help when they were about to leave the city on December 11. (HA/VK)