19 Oct 10 | Index Index, minipost
Kurdish politicians and activists, 151 in total, have gone on trial in Diyarbakir, the largest city in the Kurdish-dominated southeast. The charges include membership of illegal groups, spreading propaganda and violating laws on public demonstrations. The trial comes amidst Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s plans for reconciliation with the Kurdish ethnic minority, who make up 20 per cent of the population. The defendants include 12 elected mayors, and about 20 of the suspects are to be tried in absentia. European human rights activists and lawyers have arrived to monitor the case.
07 May 10 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost, Uncategorized
Freelance journalist Sardasht Osman was found dead yesterday in the semiautonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq. Osman, who was abducted on 5 May, had been tortured and shot twice. His family believe he was targeted because of a critical article he wrote about a high-ranking Klocal official. Osman’s brother, Bashdar told CPJ “In the last few months my brother received a number of phone threats, demanding that he stop meddling in government affairs”. Earlier this week, Reporters Sans Frontières accused the two parties that control the region — the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan — of creating a “tacit strategic accord” to restrict press freedom.
11 Feb 10 | Index Index, minipost, Uncategorized
Ozan Kilinc, editor of Kurdish newspaper Azadiya Welat, has been sentenced to 21 years in jail for publishing ‘Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) propaganda’. Comments or acts judged supportive of the PKK are a serious crime in Turkey. The PKK, branded a terrorist organisation, launched an armed campaign for Kurdish self-rule in 1984.
