Turkey: Prominent Turkish journalist Hasan Cemal given 11 month suspended sentence for ‘insulting Erdogan’

March 1, 2017 By administrator

hasan-cemal Prominent Turkish journalist Hasan Cemal was on March 1 convicted on charges of “insulting the president,” receiving a suspended sentence of 11 months and 20 days over an article published in 2016.

The Ankara 24th criminal court of first instance ordered the deferment of the announcement of the verdict over an article in which Cemal quoted remarks by main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu about President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

The prosecutor claimed that Cemal “exceeded the limits of criticism” by accusing Erdoğan of “dictatorship and corruption” in a Jan. 16, 2016 column on the T24 news website.

Cemal had testified in October 2016, saying remarks about the president in his column had been uttered by Kılıçdaroğlu and they should be evaluated within the scope of freedom of expression.

The court gave him a suspended sentence of 11 months and 20 days in prison on charges of insulting the president.

Separately, Cemal was sentenced to a 15-month suspended prison term on charges of “conducting terror propaganda” and “praising crime and criminals” on Feb. 14.

He is also on trial for terror-related charges allegedly committed while he was serving as a one-day editor-in-chief of daily Özgür Gündem as part of a solidarity campaign with the now-closed paper.

March/01/2017

Swedish Court passes sentence on Turkish nationalist Barbaros Leylani because of his statements to kill Armenians

December 16, 2016 By administrator

The Stockholm District Court made a formal judgement on the case of the former Deputy Chairman of the Turkish National Association of Sweden Barbaros Leylani, who made xenophobic, anti-Armenian statements containing clear expressions of incitement to violence, hatred and racial discrimination, website of the regional socio-political newspaper Sydsvenskan» reports.

Besides, the court sentenced Leylani to fine in an amount equal to his 40-day income.

However, it is noted that according to Arshak Gavafyan, Chairman of the Armenian National Committee of Sweden, the decision of the court was too soft.

An anti-Armenian demonstration was organized by the Coordination Center of Azerbaijani Associations in Sweden in the square Sergels, Stockholm, on Saturday, April 9. Over 100 people took part in the demonstration. Representatives of local Azerbaijani and Turkish organizations were among the protesters. The Armenian embassy in Sweden reported in a statement that during the demonstration, the vice chairman of the Coordination Center of Turkish Associations in Sweden, Barbaros Leylani, made a speech

in Turkish coming up with anti-Armenian and nationalistic statements.
“It is time for uniting the Turkish nation. The Turks will wake up putting an end to the Armenian dogs. Death to the Armenian dogs! Death! Death!” – Barbaros Leylani stated.

It was noted that the protesters also shouted “Death to the Armenian dogs, death, death, death!” Leylani’s speeches were widely spread in Sweden, as a result, the reaction of the central media followed. V4, a local TV channel, presented the video during its evening news program.

Swedish MP Fredrik Malm and the chairman of the Coordination Center of Armenian Associations, Karlen Mansuryan, condemned such aggressive statements commenting the demonstration and Leylani’s statements on air.

The website Dagens Nyheter reported that according to Simon Sahakyan, the secretary of the Armenian Academic Association in Sweden, Leylani’s statements reflect the Turkish authorities’ position led by the president Recep Tayyip Erdogan. He reminded the audience of the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Turkey and highlighted that this historical fact has already been recognized by many states despite Turkey’s resistance.

Egypt overturns death sentence for ex-President Mohammed Morsi

November 15, 2016 By administrator

Egypt has overturned the death penalty for an Islamist president who played a key role in a mass prison break-out, The Sun reports.

Mohammed Morsi was condemned to death for his part in the 2011 revolution and ousted from his role.

The former leader of the now banned Muslim Brotherhood movement rose to presidency following the revolution, but was removed a year later by the military after street protests against his rule.

The former president had been sentenced to life in prison for terror offences and awaits sentencing for other charges.

But Egypt’s highest court has now overturned the ruling.

The Sun. Egypt overturns death sentence for Islamist President Mohammed Morsi for his role in a mass prison break-out

Turkey to sentence UK teacher to 5-year jail term over PKK links

April 29, 2016 By administrator

Chris Stephenson, a British computer sciences lecturer who works at Bilgi university in Istanbul, Turkey

Turkish juridical officials are to hand down a five-year jail sentence to a British university lecturer on charges of spreading “terror propaganda” for the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

Turkish prosecutors have brought criminal indictment against Chris Stephenson, a computer sciences lecturer who works at Bilgi university in Istanbul, and he would be most likely given a jail sentence of between one and five years, Dogan news agency reported.

Stephenson was arrested on March 15 after Turkish authorities alleged that he was carrying brochures in support of the PKK, accusing the Cambridge graduate of “making propaganda of a terror organization.”

The British scholar, in return, has disrupted the charges, arguing that he was detained only after he was found with a bilingual Newroz (Persian and Kurdish new year) celebration invitation with the signature of the provincial presidency of the Peoples’ Democratic Party, also known as the HDP.

Stephenson, who has lived in Turkey for 25 years, is a staunch supporter of four Turkish academics, who signed a petition late last year and denounced the Turkish government’s campaign against the PKK.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in return, dismissed the petition and said it helps the PKK militants “achieve their goals.”

“It might be the terrorist who pulls the trigger and detonates the bomb, but it is these supporters and accomplices who allow that attack to achieve its goal,” he said.

Meanwhile, Turkish officials are to deport a Finnish author from Turkey over alleged “links to terrorism.”

Taina Niemela was detained in the restive eastern Turkish province of Van on April 28 after she attended a funeral for a slain PKK member.

A ceasefire between the PKK and the Turkish government collapsed in July 2015 and attacks on Turkish security forces have soared ever since.

President Erdogan said earlier this month that 355 members of the Turkish security forces and over 5,000 Kurdish militants have been killed in operations against the outlawed group.

Ankara has been engaged in a large-scale campaign against the PKK in its southern border region in the past few months. The Turkish military has also been conducting offensives against the positions of the group in northern Iraq and Syria.

The operations began in the wake of a deadly July 2015 bombing in the southern Turkish town of Suruc. More than 30 people died in the attack, which the Turkish government blamed on the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group.

After the bombing, the PKK militants, who accuse the government in Ankara of supporting Daesh, engaged in a series of supposed reprisal attacks against Turkish police and security forces, in turn prompting the Turkish military operations.

source: presstv

BREAKING NEWS Turkey’ Lobbyist Dennis Hastert got a 15-month prison sentence in a case tied to a sexual abuse coverup

April 27, 2016 By administrator

Wednesday, April 27, 2016 12:59 PM EDT
J. Dennis Hastert, once among this nation’s most powerful politicians, was sentenced for illegally structuring bank transactions in an effort to cover up his sexual abuse of young members of a wrestling team he coached decades ago.
“The defendant is a serial child molester,” said Judge Thomas M. Durkin, of Federal District Court, in a tough rebuke of the former House speaker before issuing his sentence. He added, “Nothing is more stunning than having ‘serial child molester’ and ‘Speaker of the House’ in the same sentence.”

Turkey: Amnesty International: convictions fail to bring justice in Korkmaz murder case

January 22, 2015 By administrator

Amnesty International (AI) issued a public statement on Wednesday regarding the controversial verdict in the trial of the murderers of Turkish teen protester Ali İsmail Korkmaz, saying the “convictions fail to bring justice.”

The AI statement said two police officers, Mevlüt Saldoğan and Yalçın Akbulut, were convicted for a lesser offense of “deliberately wounding and causing the death” of the 19-year-old Korkmaz. Saldoğan was sentenced to 10 years, 10 months in prison and Akbulut was sentenced to 10 years instead of facing punishment for the charge of “deliberate killing.” This charge, under which Saldoğan was prosecuted, would have carried a life sentence.

The statement stressed that a video of the police officers and civilians beating Korkmaz was shown to the court during the trial, noting that “Officer Saldoğan is seen in the video repeatedly kicking him [Korkmaz] in the head as he lay motionless on the ground after the attack.”

AI also stated that two other police officers involved in the deadly beating of Korkmaz, Şaban Gökpınar and Hüseyin Engin, were acquitted of all charges due to a “lack of evidence,” while three civilians also involved in the incident were sentenced to six years and eight months each. A fourth suspect has been sentenced to three years in jail but released from prison due to time served on remand.

The statement mentioned the numerous setbacks the Korkmaz trial was subject to, such as tampering with the CCTV evidence that recorded the attack.

“Hundreds more complaints into police violence look increasingly unlikely even to come to court,” AI said, adding that two further cases involving strong evidence of excessive police force leading to deaths during the Gezi Park protests remain unresolved.

The organization elaborated on these cases by saying the trial concerning the death of Abdullah Cömert, who was hit by a tear gas canister in Antakya, continues, and that Turkish prosecutors have failed to identify the policeman who fired the tear gas canister that led to death of 15-year-old Berkin Elvan.

The statement concluded: “Overall, the judicial machinery has been ineffective in bringing police abuses to justice in the face of obstructiveness and failure to provide evidence by law enforcement agencies. The Turkish authorities must bring [a] swift and just conclusion to the many hundreds of complaints that are still pending and bring all those responsible for human rights abuses to justice.”

A local court handed down Saldoğan and Akbulut’s sentences on Wednesday, causing strong reactions from the victim’s family and the general public. The prosecutor was seeking up to 16 years for Akbulut on charges of willfully causing serious injury and death. The two police officers are expected to stay only two-and-a-half years in prison, as they have already spent one-and-a-half years in jail and will benefit from the law on probation.

The court’s verdict was protested by Korkmaz’s family and others present in the courtroom. “God damn such justice,” shouted the slain teen’s mother, Emel Korkmaz. “The life of a person, the life of Ali İsmail, should not have been this cheap. They are beating a 19-year-old teen to death and getting 10 years. Is this justice in this country? The whole world knows how Ali was killed. I could not watch the footage [showing Korkmaz being beaten by police]. The life of my son should not have been this cheap,” the grieving mother said.

Korkmaz, a first-year student at Eskişehir University, died of a brain hemorrhage after remaining comatose for 38 days following the incident in which he was beaten by a group of four plainclothes police officers and four civilians in the street. The incident took place during the nationwide Gezi Park protests that swept Turkey in the summer of 2013. Korkmaz attended a march in Eskişehir and fled the police, who fired tear gas and used water cannons on the peaceful demonstrators. The assailants accosted and tripped Korkmaz as he was running on a side road. The group then beat Korkmaz with bats and kicked him in the head.

The protests started over a government plan to demolish İstanbul’s Gezi Park in Taksim Square and replace it with a replica of Ottoman-era barracks. The attack on Korkmaz further stoked tensions at the time, angering protesters even more.

Karabakh court sentences Azeri saboteurs

December 30, 2014 By administrator

A court in Karabakh on Monday, Dec 29 sentenced one Azerbaijani man to life imprisonment and another to 22 years in prison on charges stemming from the murder of an Armenian teenager which led to their high-profile arrests in July, RFE/FL Armenian service reports.

In a verdict condemned by Azerbaijan’s government, Dilgam Askerov and Shahbaz Quliyev were convicted of illegal border crossing and arms possession, espionage and kidnapping. Askerov, who was jailed for life, was also found guilty of killing Smbat Tsakanian, a 17-year-old Armenian resident of the Kelbajar district sandwiched between Armenia and Karabakh.

Quliyev and Askerov were separately captured by Karabakh Armenian security forces in July after crossing into Kelbajar together with another Azerbaijani, Hasan Hasanov. Hasanov was gunned down several days later, moments after opening fire at a military vehicle that carried an Armenian army officer and a civilian. The officer, Sargis Abrahamian, was killed while the 37-year-old woman, Karine Davtian, gravely wounded.

The shootings were reported four days before Tsakanian was found dead. The Karabakh authorities believe that he was taken hostage and killed by the Azerbaijani saboteurs.

Quliyev, 46, and Askerov, 54, pleaded not guilty to the murder charge when they went on trial in Stepanakert in October. Each of them claimed to have had no part in the boy’s killing which the prosecution says was committed with an assault rifle confiscated from Askerov.

During his cross-examination in the Karabakh court last month, Askerov said he did not fire the fatal gunshots and even tried unsuccessfully to convince his companions to spare Tsakanian’s life. He referred to Quliyev as a “very bad person” who was recruited by Azerbaijani special services to infiltrate Kelbajar. Quliyev dismissed those claims as a lie.

During the trial the prosecution publicized what it considers another key piece of evidence: amateur video that was shot by Askerov in the days leading up to his arrest. It shows the two other Azerbaijanis and Tsakanian walking through a forest in the mountainous district.

Askerov can be heard saying from behind the camera, “We have captured a piglet. He is about 20 years old and doesn’t speak Azerbaijani. We can’t let him go because he would denounce us. Let’s go and see what happens.”

Commenting on the footage, Askerov claimed that he and the other Azerbaijanis did not kidnap Tsakanian from his home in a remote Kelbajar farm. He said they only asked the teenager to show them the way to the town of Kelbajar.

The Azerbaijani government has repeatedly denounced the trial as illegal and demanded the release of both men.

The authorities in Stepanakert have rejected such claims before. They say that the arrested Azerbaijanis cannot be treated like prisoners of war because their brutal and inhuman actions targeted a civilian.

Related links:
Դատարանը հրապարակեց ամբաստանյալներ Գուլիևի եւ Ասկերովի գործով դատավճիռը. ArtsakhPress
RFE/RL Armenian Service. Karabakh Court Sentences Azerbaijani Saboteurs