Posts Tagged ‘Kurds’
September 11th, 2012
The biggest
media trial in Turkey’s history has begun, 44 journalists appeared in an Istanbul court on Monday (10 September). Of those, 36 have been in
pre-trial detention since December. The reporters face a variety of terrorism charges including accusations they supported the outlawed Union of Kurdistan Communities (KCK), wrote articles about prison abuse, war casualties, and sexual harassment. Human rights groups say the trial is an attempt by the government to
intimidate the press and punish pro-Kurdish activists.
More than 100 journalists are currently in jail in Turkey.
June 27th, 2012
A court in
Turkey has sentenced a man with speech and hearing impairments to
eight years in prison for spreading propaganda on behalf of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Mehmet Tahir Ilhan was sentenced after attending a demonstration in in April 2011. Following his involvement in the protest, Ihlan was also charged with “committing a crime on behalf of a terrorist organisation,” “resisting security forces” and “contravening the Law of Assembly and Demonstration”. Ilhan claimed he was not one of the protesters who threw stones and Molotov cocktails during the rally.
May 17th, 2012
The editor of a Iraqi Kurdish magazine
has been arrested for reprinting an allegedly blasphemous article. Hamin Ary, editor of Kurdish and Arabic monthly publication Chirpa (Al-Hamsah in Arabic) was arrested on 7 May after publishing an article by controversial writer Goran Halmat. Ary was arrested for “offences that violate religious sensibilities”, an offence which carries a maximum sentence of three years in prison. The article, entitled “Me and God” was originally posted on Facebook in 2010, and was deemed “offensive to Islam”.
April 11th, 2012
Eminent Turkish free expression champion
Ragip Zarakolu was freed from prison in Turkey pending trial along with 14 others
yesterday. Zarakolu, director of the Belge Publishing House, which has published works on taboo subjects such as the Armenian genocide and minority rights in Turkey, was arrested last October as part of a crackdown on those accused of supporting the Kurdish Communities Union (KCK). He was indicted on 19 March under Turkish anti-terrorism laws for “aiding and abetting an illegal organisation,” a charge that could carry a 15-year sentence.
April 4th, 2012
A
Turkish politician has been sentenced to
15 years in prison after delivering speeches in the run up to elections in June 2011. Serafettin Halis, former Deputy of the Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) was convicted of being part of an illegal organisation, and creating propaganda for an illegal organisation following seven speeches he delivered during the run up the the elections. Halis told local press that he is being prosecuted for speaking to his constituents, as the speeches were made in his capacity as an elected official.
December 22nd, 2011
As over 40 people, many of them journalists, are detained on terrorism charges across Turkey, Kaya Genç examines the latest attempt to silence the Kurdish press
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March 1st, 2011
Journalist Ahmet Topcu has been
sentenced to 11 months in jail for denouncing a proposal put forward by the Mayor of Rize, in north east Turkey. The mayor, Halil Bakirci, is
currently a member of the incumbent Justice and Development Party (AKP). Topcu had published an article criticising the mayor’s suggestion that “Kurds should have co-wives” and that this would answer the “Kurdish question”. Bakirci was widely
condemned at the time and has offered a public
apology.
January 27th, 2011
Index award winner, Ferhat Tunç has been sentenced to 25 days in prison for a speech he made during a 2006 concert. Tunç was charged under article 7/2 of Turkey’s Anti-Terror Law and article 220/6 of its Turkish Criminal Law, namely “spreading propaganda” for a terrorist organistion. Here Turkish novelist Kaya Genç talks to Kurdish musicians —including Tunç — about making their voices heard despite continuing discrimination and prejudice
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