 Turkey sentences at least 22 journalists on terrorism-related charges
Istanbul, March 8, 2018—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned a Turkish court’s decision today to sentence at least 22 journalists to prison on terrorism-related charges, and called on Turkish authorities to release them without delay. “The sentencing in Istanbul today of at least 22 journalists on anti-state charges is a disgrace to Turkey’s justice system, and we call on authorities to drop the charges on appeal,” CPJ Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator Nina Ognianova said from New York. “Turkish authorities must stop equating journalism with terrorism, and release the scores of press workers jailed for doing their job.” The journalists all denied the charges, according to media reports. The trial, with a total 29 defendants, made headlines in March 2017, when a court ordered that 21 of them be released pending trial. Twenty of those were re-arrested on the same day, and the judges who released the defendants were later relieved of their jobs. Of the 20 re-arrested, prosecutors charged 12 of them with the more serious offense of plotting the failed coup of July 2015, a crime that could have carried a life sentence without parole. Today, all the defendants were acquitted of the coup-related charges. These are the journalists sentenced today, along with their outlets, convictions, and sentences:
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Turkey sentences Wall Street Journal reporter to more than two years in prison
A court in Turkey has sentenced a Wall Street Journal reporter to more than two years in prison on terrorism charges over an article, the newspaper said in a statement Tuesday, in a case that highlighted the Turkish government’s escalating clampdown on press freedoms, The Washington Post reported.
The reporter, Ayla Albayrak, was in New York at the time of the sentencing and planned to appeal the decision, the Journal said.
The charges against Albayrak, a dual citizen of Turkey and Finland, stemmed from an article that she wrote two years ago on Turkey’s ongoing war with Kurdish militants, the Journal statement said.
“The sole purpose of the article was to provide objective and independent reporting on events in Turkey, and it succeeded,” said Gerard Baker, editor in chief of the Journal, according to the statement. “This was an unfounded criminal charge and wildly inappropriate conviction that wrongly singled out a balanced Wall Street Journal report.”
The source reminds that the sentence appeared certain to aggravate the ongoing dispute between Turkey and the United States. The feud burst into public view Sunday, when the U.S. Embassy in Ankara announced that it was suspending the issuing of nonimmigrant visas at its missions in Turkey. The move was taken in response to Turkey’s arrest this month of the consulate employee, Metin Topuz, on espionage charges.
Turkey retaliated by quickly announcing an almost identical visa suspension. Erdogan, speaking in Belgrade, Serbia, weighed in on the dispute Tuesday, saying that “the offender in this problem is the United States of America itself.”
STRASBOURG: Euro court sentences Turkey to pay compensation in phone-tapping case
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ordered Turkey to pay compensation to Turkish citizen İrfan Güzel, who was convicted of arms trafficking, for violation his right to effective remedy.
The ECHR also ruled that the suspect’s right to respect for private and family life was not violated during the collecting of evidence.
“The Court held that its judgment constituted sufficient just satisfaction for the non-pecuniary damage sustained by Güzel,” the ruling stated.
Güzel, from the southeastern province of Mardin, was charged with involvement in international arms trafficking and aiding and abetting the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) on Feb. 8, 2008, based on telephone conversations and weapons and ammunition seized.
Güzel was sentenced to 12 years and six months in jail for aiding and abetting a “terrorist organization,” but later applied to court saying his telephone had been tapped in the absence of any prior judicial decision.
Applying to the ECHR, he also said the conditions laid down in the Code of Criminal Procedure for implementing such measures had not been met and added that he was afforted no right to effective remedy to contest the non-compliance with those rules.
February/07/2017
Turkish prosecutors demand two life sentences for Gulen
Turkish prosecutors have demanded two life sentences and an additional 1,900 years in prison for US-based cleric, Fethullah Gulen, whom Ankara blames for the failed mid-July coup.
In a 2,527-page indictment approved by prosecutors in the Usak region of western Turkey, the Pennsylvania-based cleric is charged with “attempting to destroy the constitutional order by force,” Turkey’s Anadolu news agency reported on Tuesday.
According to the indictment, the cleric also faces criminal charges for “forming and running an armed terrorist group” among other accusations.
The case dates back even before the abortive coup and had been launched by Usak prosecutor’s office into the financial assets of the so-called Fethullah Terror Organization (FETO).
FETO has been accused of infiltrating state archives through its members in the state institutions and intelligence units.
Turkish state media say the group has used media outlets, foundations, private schools, companies, student dormitories and insurance companies to serve its purpose of taking control of all state institutions. FETO has also collected funds from businessmen in the name of “donations” and transferred the money to the United States by means of front companies.
At least 13 out of 111 suspects in the case are remanded in custody, all facing prison terms ranging from two years to life in jail.
Libyan court sentences Gadhafi son to death
A court in the Libyan capital has sentenced a son of Moammar Gadhafi to death over killings during the country’s 2011 uprising, the Associated Press reports.
The Tripoli court handed down the sentence Tuesday, July 28, for Seif al-Islam, who is currently being held by a militia that refuses to hand him over to the central government.
The court sentenced eight others to death as well, including former Libyan spy chief Abdullah al-Senoussi.