The new Turkey
Mehmet Dursun.
Former correspondent for the shuttered pro-Kurdish Dicle News Agency (DİHA),

24-Jan-2019 10:52

5 December 2018:

Mehmet Dursun released from pre-trial detention at his first hearing 

The trial of Van-based journalist Mehmet Dursun, who has been jailed pending trial since April, got underway on 5 December in Van. Dursun is accused of “membership in a terrorist organization” on account of his phone conversations with his sources. 

Addressing the 4th High Criminal Court of Van for his defense statement during the hearing, Dursun denied the accusations and requested his acquittal. In its interim ruling at the end of the hearing, the court ruled to release Dursun under judicial control measures and set 15 May 2019 as the date for the next hearing in the case.

23 July 2018:

Journalist Mehmet Dursun faces up to 15 years in prison
 
Jailed journalist Mehmet Dursun is facing up to 15 years of imprisonment on terrorism-related charges in the indictment against him, according to the ANF Turkish news portal.
 
Dursun was arrested at the Van Police Department, where he was summoned to give his statement. On 6 April, he was brought before a court in Van, which jailed the journalist pending trial on the charge of “conducting propaganda for a terrorist organization.”
 
ANF reported on 23 July that Dursun’s news reports, his written communication with his sources and his reporting via telephone were cited as grounds for the allegations in the indictment.
 
Issued by the Van Public Prosecutor’s Office, the indictment accuses Dursun of pro-PKK/KCK news coverage and bills the Dicle news agency as “the news agency of the organization.”*

15 June 2018:

Journalist convicted of 'defaming the security services'
A court in the southeastern Turkish city of Van sentenced Mehmet Dursun, a former report Pro-Kurdish Dicle News Agency (DİHA), to two years and six months in prison on charges of "defaming the security agencies" in a 2014 article alleging security forces harassed "village guards" - local militias the state armed in predominantly ethnic-Kurdish towns to counter the Democratic Workers' Party (PKK), which the government classes as a terrorist organization - because the legal opposition Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) received votes in their villages, DİHA reported. The court suspended the sentence on condition that Dursun not repeat the offense. **

6 April 2018:

A court in the eastern city of Van on April 7 arraigned Mehmet Dursun, a former correspondent for the shuttered pro-Kurdish Dicle News Agency (DİHA), on charges of "making propaganda for a [terrorist] organization," Mezopatamya News Agency reported.

*Source