March
11, 2010
ISTANBUL, —
DTP Iskenderun official Aydinci was sentenced to a
TL 1,500 monetary fine for addressing imprisoned PKK
leader Öcalan as "respectable". Demokrat newspaper
owner Korkmaz was acquitted though has pending
another trial for six years.
The Iskenderun (eastern Mediterranean Coast) 2nd
Criminal Court of First Instance sentenced
Democratic Society Party (DTP) Iskenderun District
Mayor Mahmut Aydinci to three months imprisonment on
the grounds of referring to Abdullah Öcalan,
imprisoned leader of the Turkey militant Kurdistan
Workers' Party (PKK), as "respectable". Journalist
Ersen Korkmaz was acquitted in the same trial.
Both un-detained defendants stood accused of
"praising crime and criminals" according to article
215 of the Turkish Criminal Code (TCK). The court
took into account Aydinci's "positive attitude
throughout the trial" and mitigated the sentence to
two months and 15 days before converting it into a
TL 1,500 (€ 715) monetary fine.
The right to quote, the
crime of saying "respectable"
In the final speech of the prosecution, Public
Prosecutor Ahmet Kara pointed out that journalist
Korkmaz quoted the press release without having made
any changes to it. According to the prosecutor,www.ekurd.netthe
defendant did not have any criminal intent and the
publication remained within the boundaries of press
freedom. Kara demanded the acquittal of Korkmaz.
Regarding Aydinci, prosecutor Kara claimed that
addressing Öcalan as "respectable" was sufficient
for the proof of crime.
Further prosecution for
contents of a news article
Newspaper owner Korkmaz and DTP district mayor
Aydinci are facing imprisonment of up to three years
in another case on the grounds of an article
including sentences such as "Closing Imrali Prison
and its implementations should be taken seriously
for the great contribution it would make to social
peace" published on 18 November 2008. The trial was
opened on 24 December 2008.
Another trial pending for newspaper owner
Another trial regarding Korkmaz has been pending for
six years. He is tried under article 159 of the
former TCK by reason of a news item entitled "The
Kurdish leaders were taken and delivered to the
Fascists" about a panel discussion organized by the
Turkish Communist Party (TKP).
Korkmaz and TKP official Necmettin Salaz, originator
of the phrase, are facing imprisonment of another
three years under charges of "insult and ridiculing
of the military".
PKK
Since 1984 PKK took up arms for self-rule in the
mainly Kurdish southeast of Turkey
(Turkey-Kurdistan) which has claimed around 45,000
lives of Turkish soldiers and Kurdish PKK
guerrillas. A large Turkey's Kurdish community
openly sympathise with the Kurdish PKK rebels.
The PKK is considered a
'terrorist' organization by Ankara, U.S., the PKK
continues to be on the blacklist list in EU despite
court ruling which
overturned a decision
to place the Kurdish rebel group PKK and its
political wing on the European Union's terror list.
The PKK demanded Turkey's recognition of the Kurds'
identity in its constitution and of their language
as a native language along with Turkish in the
country's Kurdish areas,www.ekurd.net
the party also demanded
an end to ethnic discrimination in Turkish laws and
constitution against Kurds, ranting them full
political freedoms.
Turkey refuses to recognize its Kurdish population
as a distinct minority. It has allowed some cultural
rights such as limited broadcasts in the Kurdish
language and private Kurdish language courses with
the prodding of the European Union, but Kurdish
politicians say the measures fall short of their
expectations.
Last August, the government announced plans to expand
Kurdish freedoms in a bid to erode popular support
for the PKK and end the insurgency.
Although the drive faltered amid a ban on the
country's main Kurdish DTP party, street protests and PKK
violence, Ankara has vowed to push ahead with the
reforms.
Copyright, respective
author or news agency,
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