Journalist Vedat Kursun in Prison until 15 April

Vedat Kursun, the responsible editor of the Kurdish Azadiya Welat newspaper has been in police custody since 5 February, accused of “continuously spreading PKK propaganda.”

Erol Önderoğlu

The Diyarbakir Public Prosecutor has demanded the imprisonment of Vedat Kursun, licence holder and editor of the Kurdish Azadiya Welat newspaper for “spreading PKK propaganda.”

In his deliberations at the Diyarbakir 6th Heavy Penal Court on Tuesday (25 March), prosecutor Tuncer Cetin accused the journalist of “committing a crime in the name of a criminal organisation without being a member of the organisation.”

Punishment under three articles demanded

Kursun has been in police custody since 5 February, and he attended the hearing with five lawyers. The prosecutor has demanded punishment under Articles 220/6, 314/2 of the Penal Code, as well as Article 7/2 of the Anti-Terrorism Law.

The prosecutor has argued that the thirteen issues from 12 September 2006 to 12 August 2007 all contained PKK propaganda. As evidence he pointed out that imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan was described as “the leader of the Kurdish people,” “the leader of the KCK,” “Honourable Öcalan,” and “Leader Apo,” and that members of the HPG, associated with the PKK, were described as “HPG guerillas.”

Release not granted

The defense lawyers have asked for time to prepare their defense, and the next hearing is on 15 April. The court had refused to release Kursun at the previous hearing on 4 March, and did so again on Tuesday. The defense lawyers again objected, saying that Kursun had come to court to defend himself.

When the court decided to take Kursun into custody on 5 February, one judge, Selahaddin Menes, had opposed the decision. (EÖ/GG/AG)

Origin

Bıa news centre

Kurdish question Vedat Kurşun Azadiya Welat

Erol Önderoğlu

[email protected]

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A graduate of the French Language and Literature Department at İstanbul University. He has served as the Turkey representative for the international organization Reporters Without...

A graduate of the French Language and Literature Department at İstanbul University. He has served as the Turkey representative for the international organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF), where he began as a reporter in 1996. Since 1999, he has worked at bianet, a project of the IPS Communication Foundation, as the coordinator of the Legal Support Desk, editor for freedom of expression, and editor-in-chief. He has authored more than 4,800 signed news articles and opinion pieces. He has also written for Bizim Gazete and the journal Güncel Hukuk. He currently prepares the Media Monitoring Reports at bianet.