Kurdish man thrown out of military helicopter given jail sentence on 'terror' charges

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A man who was thrown out of a military helicopter following his detention in September 2020 in Van, a predominantly Kurdish-populated province in eastern Turkey, has been convicted of "being a member of a terrorist organization."

The Mersin 2nd Heavy Penal Court yesterday (April 12) sentenced Osman Şiban to 7 years and 6 months in prison.

Şiban did not attend the hearing while his attorney was present in the courtroom. The prosecutor repeated their opinion as to the accusations from the previous hearing and demanded Şiban be sentenced.

Pronouncing its verdict after the defense statements, the court sentenced Şiban to 6 years in prison. Considering "the way the offense was committed, the time and place where the offense was committed, the gravity of the harm and danger caused by the defendant," the court increased the sentence to 7 years and 6 months.

Şiban's lawyers will appeal against the decision.

What happened?

Taken into custody by the soldiers who launched an operation in the Çatak district of Van province on September 11, Osman Şiban and Servet Turgut were found in the intensive care unit of the Van Regional Training and Research Hospital two days later.

Speaking about the issue, Osman Şiban said that he and Servet Turgut were dropped from a helicopter after they had been detained and tortured by soldiers in Turkey's Kurdish-majority eastern province of Van.

While the "Intensive Care" section of the report has referred to "falling from a higher place" as a complaint, the report has further said that "they were brought to the emergency department by paramedics upon being informed by the security personnel after they had fallen from a higher place."

In a written statement about the allegation that two people were dropped from a military helicopter, the Governor's Office of Van has announced that a legal and administrative investigation has been launched.

While Şiban has recovered, Turgut lost his life on September 30.

On the other side, police raided the office of Mezopotamya Agency (MA) and the homes of several journalists, including Jinnews reporters, in Van in the early morning hours on October 5, 2020.

MA reporters Adnan Bilen and Cemil Uğur, Jinnews reporter Şehriban Abi and Nazan Sala were detained in the raids. On October 9, they were arrested on charge of "membership of the organization".

The journalists revealed with documents that Servet Turgut and Osman Şiban had been dropped from a helicopter. (HA/VK)