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Kurdish Journalist Vedat Kursun in Turkish
Prison until 15 April
27.3.2008
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Vedat Kursun, the responsible editor of the Kurdish
Azadiya Welat newspaper has been in police custody
since 5 February, accused of “continuously spreading
PKK propaganda.”
March 27, 2008
DIYARBAKIR, Kurdish Southeastern region of
Turkey, -- The Diyarbakir Public Prosecutor
has demanded the imprisonment of Vedat Kursun,
licence holder and editor of the Kurdish Azadiya
Welat newspaper for “spreading PKK propaganda.”
In his deliberations at the Diyarbakir 6th Heavy
Penal Court on Tuesday (25 March), prosecutor Tuncer
Cetin accused the journalist of “committing a crime
in the name of a criminal organisation without being
a member of the organisation.”
Punishment under three
articles demanded
Kursun has been in police custody since 5 February,
and he attended the hearing with five lawyers. The
prosecutor has demanded punishment under Articles
220/6, 314/2 of the Penal Code, as well as Article
7/2 of the Anti-Terrorism Law.
The prosecutor has argued that the thirteen issues
from 12 September 2006 to 12 August 2007 all
contained PKK propaganda. As evidence he pointed out
that imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan was
described as “the leader of the Kurdish people,”
“the leader of the KCK,” “Honourable Öcalan,” and
“Leader Apo,” and that members of the HPG,
associated with the PKK, were described as “HPG
guerillas.”
Release not granted
The defense lawyers have asked for time to prepare
their defense, and the next hearing is on 15 April.
The court had refused to release Kursun at the
previous hearing on 4 March,www.ekurd.net
and did so again on
Tuesday. The defense lawyers again objected, saying
that Kursun had come to court to defend himself.
When the court decided to take Kursun into custody
on 5 February, one judge, Selahaddin Menes, had
opposed the decision.
Copyright, respective author or news agency, bianet
org
** Kurds are not recognized as an official minority
in Turkey and are denied rights granted to other
minority groups. Under EU pressure, Turkey recently
granted Kurds limited rights for broadcasts and
education in the Kurdish language, but critics say
the measures do not go far enough.
The use of the term "Kurdistan" is vigorously
rejected due to its alleged political implications
by the Republic of Turkey, which does not recognize
the existence of a "Turkish Kurdistan" Southeast
Turkey.
Others estimate over 40 million Kurds live in Big
Kurdistan (Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Iran, Armenia),
which covers an area as big as France, about half of
all Kurds which estimate to 20 million live in
Turkey.
Turkey is home to 25 million ethnic Kurds, a
large Turkey's Kurdish community openly sympathise
with the Kurdish PKK for a Kurdish homeland in the
country's mainly Kurdish southeast of Turkey.
Before August 2002, the Turkish government placed
severe restrictions on the use of Kurdish language,
prohibiting the language in education and broadcast
media. The Kurdish alphabet is still not recognized
in Turkey, and use of the Kurdish letters X, W, Q
which do not exist in the Turkish alphabet has led
to judicial persecution in 2000 and 2003
The Kurdish flag flown officially in Iraqi Kurdistan
but unofficially flown by Kurds in Armenia. The flag
is banned in Iran, Syria, and Turkey where flying it
is a criminal offence"
Southeastern Turkey:
North Kurdistan (
Kurdistan-Turkey)
wikipedia
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