13 Dec 2010 | Index Index, minipost
Berivan Eker, former editor of the women’s magazine Renge Heviya Jine, has been arrested on charges of “spreading propaganda for an illegal organisation”. She faces 21 years in prison. Eker referred to PKK founder Abdullah Ocalan as the “leader of the Kurdish people” and praised alleged PKK members. Several of the magazine’s senior editors — Sultan Sonsuz, Ruken Aktaş and Gurbet Çakar — face similar charges. Renge Heviya Jine (The Colour of Women’s Hope) is the only magazine in Turkey published in both Turkish and Kurdish.
10 Jun 2010 | Index Index, minipost
Three members of the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party were sentenced to six months each for speaking Kurdish in an election campaign. Although the election campaigners claimed to have welcomed the meeting in Kurdish, they were sentenced for”committing a criminal offence by violating the laws related to oral and written election propaganda to be made in Turkish only”. The sentences come only days after journalist Irfan Atkan was jailed for 15 months, and his editor fined for publishing an article quoting a member of the Kurdistan Workers Party.
17 Mar 2010 | Index Index, minipost
Editor-in-chief of the Firat newspaper Hacı Boğatekin has been sentenced to five years in jail. Bogatekin was charged with “insult” and “defamation” and “attempting to influence a fair trial”. Three other journalists were charged with similar offences. In one of the offending articles Bogatekin argued that the real threat did not come from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party but from religious leader Fethullah Gülen’s congregation. He also published prosecutor Sadullah Ovacıklı’s criticism of his abbreviation of Gülen’s name to “Feto” and made allegations about the prosecutors relationship with Güle. Boğatekin was awarded the Press Freedom Award in 2008 and was awarded by the Contemporary Journalists’ Association (ÇGD) in 2009.
8 Mar 2010 | Index Index, minipost
Vedat Kursun, former editor of Azadiya Welat, has been charged with 105 counts of “helping and abetting [the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party] by spreading propaganda” and “glorifying crimes and criminals”. His newspaper published numerous articles regarding statements and activities of the organisation, which his lawyer cites as published under the scope of freedom of expression and right to inform. His successor, Ozan Kilinç, was convicted and sentenced to 21 years imprisonment on similar charges in February.
