Imprisonment of one month and seven days was the verdict about journalist Ercan Atay, editorial manager of the Batman Newspaper, because he published a statement of Murat Karayılan, Head of the Steering Board of the Union of Kurdistan Communities (KCK).The court decision was reported on 8 June.
The KCK is the intent to organize Kurdish people and also includes the armed outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PPK).
Atay assessed the decision as a "coup on press freedom".
The local Batman Newspaper published a statement made by Karayılan after a mine explosion in the south-eastern province of Batman that caused the death of four people. In this context, the Batman 1st Magistrate Criminal Court had opened a trial on charges of "praising crime and a criminal" that resulted in Atay's conviction.
In a written statement in the local daily, Atay underlined that Karayılan's statement had also been published by other media organs and that the Batman newspaper had refrained from commenting the statement in any way.
Atay expressed his lack of understanding about the fact that he was punished nevertheless. "The prison sentences handed down by the courts are meant to intimidate journalists who are working in this region in particular. We lodged an appeal to the Court of Appeals. If this does not yield a result, we will apply to the European Court of Human Rights [ECHR]" the journalist indicated.
Lawyer Zeki Ekmen noted that the decision was opposing the European Convention on Human Rights. He said that this issue will also be followed up by the management of the Batman Bar Association.
"Tried for journalistic activities"
The Batman Mesopotamian Havza Association of Journalists and Publishers announced that the sentence stemmed from the desire to put press freedom under reservation.
Association President Kemal Çelik emphasized in a press release that the news item subject to the punishment had been published by different publishing institutions world-wide without hesitation.
Çelik recalled that officials kept on telling that "journalists are not being tried for making news but for being involved in political activities". However, the incident in Batman showed that the opposite was the case, Çelik claimed and continued, "This sentence was excluded from a conversion into a monetary fine or from being suspended. As if the severe conditions of the press law were not enough, journalists are being sent behind bars on the grounds of Article 215 of the Turkish Criminal Law on 'praising crime and a criminal'".
Trials for news about Karayılan
On 11 March, a trial was opened against Ertuğrul Mavioğlu, news coordinator of IMC television, by reason of an interview with Karayılan held on the Qandil Mountain, the location of the PKK's base in northern Iraq. Mavioğlu stands accused of "spreading propaganda for a terrorist organization". He is facing prison terms of up to five years on the grounds of the interview that was published in Radikal newspaper between 28 and 30 October 2010.
Human rights defender Hakan Tahmaz and Birgün newspaper editorial manager İbrahim Çeşmecioğlu were convicted on 24 March on the grounds of their so-called "Qandil interview". Both defendants were sentenced for "publishing announcements of an illegal organization" because of an interview with Karayılan. Tahmaz was sentenced for leading the interview, Çeşmecioğlu for publishing it.
Prosecutor Kasım İlimoğlu claimed that the defendants carried out journalistic activities and demanded their acquittal based on previous decisions of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). However, the Istanbul 10th High Criminal Court decided for a one-year prison sentence for Tahmaz which was finally mitigated to ten months. Çeşmecioğlu was handed down a monetary fine of TL 16,660 (€ 8,300)
Both defendants stood accused of "publishing statements of PKK/KONGRAGEL" according to article 6/2 of the Anti-Terror Act (TMY). Reason for the prosecution was the interview entitled "Unilateral Ceasefire Amplifies the Problem". Initially, Tahmaz and Çeşmecioğlu were facing prison terms of up to three years. (AS)
