10 Jun 2010 | Index Index, minipost
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.
9 Jun 2010 | Index Index, minipost
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.
9 Jun 2010 | News and features
Irfan Atkan has been sentenced to 15 months in prison under Turkey’s draconian anti-terror laws
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9 Jun 2010 | Index Index, minipost, News and features
Turkish journalist, Nedim Şener has been acquitted following his prosecution for alleging police negligence in his book “The Dink Murder and the Intelligence Lies” with respect to the murder of Turkish-Armenian reporter Hrant Dink. Accused of a “violation of secrecy” for publishing confidential information, Şener faced a three year prison sentence if convicted. However, on Friday 4 June, the court exonerated him, ruling that much of the “secret” information was already in the public domain prior to the books publication.
