Journalist Deniz Kılıç from the Kurdish Azadiya Welat newspaper was sentenced to more than two years in prison for his statements made on Roj TV. He had already served ten months in prison. Now he was arrested again to serve the remaining sentence.

24 people are on trial in Bursa on charges of "praising a criminal" because they commemorated communist Kaypakkaya. Several NGOs and political parties protested the trials questioning, "Killing somebody by torture is not a crime but it is a crime to commemorate revolutionists?"

The ECHR saw a violation of the right to a fair trial in the case of Sultan Şaman who was not allowed to see a lawyer or a translator when she was in police custody. Şaman was convicted of "membership in the PKK" by a domestic court. Turkey has to pay € 1,800 in compensation.

In a letter written to court, triggerman suspect of the Dink murder, Ogün Samast, stated, "I am not guilty. Guilty are the headlines that showed Dink as a traitor". Dink family lawyer Belen commented, "Samast talked with the voice of the ones who instigated him to this murder".

The joint attorneys of arrested journalist Şık applied to the Istanbul 14th High Criminal Court for the release of their client. At the same time, they submitted a petition to the Ministry of the Interior to overturn the decision for the seizure of Şık's unpublished book "for the benefit of the law".

"We argue that freedom from expression has always been an integral part of our daily lives and seems to become much more so in near future" say Volkan Yılmaz, a Turkish PHD at the University of Leeds (UK) and Sinan Eden from the Bosporus University.

Lawyers warn that the newly enforced right to individual applications to the Constitutional Court will prolong applications to the European Court of Human Rights. Lawyer Cinmen argued that the Constitutional Court will not be able to handle the flood of trials.

The Istanbul 9th High Criminal Court handed down a 1.5-year prison sentence to journalist Aziz Özer. He was convicted of "making propaganda for an illegal organization" based on an article and a caricature.

Journalist Pelek gave her statement in the trial filed against her and journalist Dolu on the grounds of having published General Fırtına's statement at the prosecution related to the Ergenekon investigation. The case was postponed to August.

The full manuscript of the unpublished book of arrested journalist Ahmet Şık was leaked to the internet despite a court decision that banned the publication of the book. According to journalist Engin, the posted version is identical with the draft previously sent to him by author Şık.

Concern about press freedom in Turkey was now also expressed in a joint statement by the European Turkish Journalists Association, the German Journalists Union and the European Federation of Journalists. "Press freedom in Turkey is under threat", the organizations said.

The cases related to the murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink tried in Trabzon at the 1st High Criminal Court and the 2nd Magistrate Criminal Court were continued. The criminal court will wait for the prosecutor's opinion on a merger of the cases; the magistrate court will wait for the high court's decision accordingly.

Politician Kaplan was convicted of an "attack of the personal rights" of Prime Minister Erdoğan and has to pay TL 6,000 in compensation. Kaplan announced to appeal and go as far as the ECHR if necessary: "My words remained within the limits of freedom of thought", he claimed.

Prof. Orhan Çeker shocked several sections of the Turkish public last February by saying that women were complicit with rapists by provoking them with low-cut dresses. It was now decided not to launch an investigation about the university professor.

The Istanbul 12th High Criminal Court rejected the lawyers' appeal against the seizure of material related to an unpublished book of arrested journalist Ahmet Şık. According to the court, the decision was legal. The Turkish Union of Bar Associations criticized the seizure.

Read here a list of journalists, writers, politicians and media institutions that were tried in 2010 on charges related to freedom of thought and expression. This list was compiled according to the annual report of 2010 prepared by the BİA Media Monitoring Desk.

The case against 16 members of the Beyoğlu Troupe of Actors, comprised by university students, is still pending. A decision is expected at the coming hearing in May. The defendants are facing imprisonment of up to two years each.

The Court of Appeals insisted on a compensation fine for writer Pamuk after a local court had dropped procedures twice. Pamuk has to pay a fine of TL 6,000 in total because of a statement made to a Swiss newspaper in 2005.

The Istanbul 14th High Criminal Court accepted the plaintiff lawyers' request to re-investigate the TÜBİTAK report on the allegedly missing footage of the Hrant Dink murder. Witnesses Çakmak and Yıldırım will be brought to court on compulsion at the next hearing on 30 May.

According to data compiled by the BİA Media Monitoring Report, 220 people, 104 of whom were journalists, stood trial in 2010 in the scope of freedom of thought and expression. 33 people were sentenced to 365 years in prison under the Anti-Terror Law. 30 journalists are in jail.