A Turkish court sentenced three journalists and editors of the now-shuttered Özgür Gündem newspaper to prison on charges of spreading “terrorist propaganda,” the Media and Law Studies Association reported.
In a hearing on Tuesday, İstanbul’s 14th High Criminal Court handed down a sentence of four years, four months and 15 days to Hüseyin Aykol and Reyhan Çapan. Ayşe Batumlu Kaya was sentenced to 21 months and two days. The court ruled that there was no need for further judgement in the case of prominent human rights defender and lawyer Eren Keskin, as she had already been sentenced to prison time for membership in a terrorist organization in another trial.
The verdicts came after the 11th hearing in the retrial of the case, which stems from articles published in Özgür Gündem, a pro-Kurdish newspaper shut down by an emergency decree in 2016 following a failed coup attempt.
On October 8, the prosecutor accused the journalists of publishing content that “legitimized, praised and supported acts of violence” and sought their conviction on charges of “disseminating terrorist propaganda” on behalf of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in their writings. During the December 19 hearing, the prosecutors amended their position, recommending that charges of “inciting crime” and “praising crime and criminals” be dismissed.
The PKK, designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey and its Western allies, has been waging a bloody war for Kurdish rights in Turkey’s southeast since 1984. Tens of thousands of people have been killed in the conflict.
The newspaper Özgür Gündem, which has long faced accusations of ties to the PKK, was among more than 100 media outlets closed by a decree during the state of emergency declared following an abortive putsch in July 2016.
Turkish prosecutors launched investigations into 37 journalists, academics and activists for acting as “editors-in-chief on duty” for the Özgür Gündem daily in 2016.The case has drawn criticism from international press freedom organizations, which say it reflects broader concerns about press restrictions in Turkey.
Turkey, which became the world’s biggest prison for journalists in 2018 during a state of emergency imposed after a coup attempt, was ranked 158th of 180 countries in the 2024 World Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders.
