A writer for Sabah newspaper writer has been fined TL 5,000 (€ 2500) for describing a judge as “officious.”Nazli Ilicak was found guilty of “attacking personal rights” in the article from 25 May 2009 entitled “The President’s immunity.” Ilicak had been previously sentenced to imprisonment of eleven months and 20 days for insulting the same judge but the sentence was postponed.
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.
In addition to blocking Youtube, Turkey has now blocked access to various Google functions. The High Council for Telecommunications has revealed that since June 2010, Turkish internet service providers have been instructed to block Youtube-linked IP addresses. On 4 June, Google investigated complaints that certain Google services, including Google Analytics and Google Docs, were restricted. The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe has estimated that 3700 websites are currently blocked in Turkey, including GeoCities, gay community sites and Kurdish sites.
Irfan Atkan has been sentenced to 15 months in prison under Turkey’s draconian anti-terror laws
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