13 September 2018:
Nasuhbeyoğlu and Koşar fined for “insulting the president”
Also on 13 September, Evrensel’s former responsible managing editor Vural Nasuhbeyoğlu and former owner Arif Koşar were convicted of “insulting the president” and sentenced to a fine of TL 7,000 each.
Nasuhbeyoğlu and Koşar did not attend the hearing at the 2nd Istanbul Criminal Court of First Instance, where they were represented by their lawyers Devrim Avcı and Mustafa Söğütlü.
Following the completion of the defense statements, the court announced its verdict, sentencing Nasuhbeyoğlu and Koşar to 1 year and 2 months each for “insulting the president.” The court then reduced the sentences to 11 months and 20 days “in consideration of the defendants’ good behavior during proceedings,” and then commuted each sentence to TL 7,000 fine.
The defense lawyers said they would appeal the verdict.
6June 2017:
Suspended prison sentences for newspaper publisher, editor
 Istanbul's Second Court of First Instance yesterday imposed a suspended sentence of five months in prison on Çağrı Sarı and Arif Koşar, the responsible news editor and the former publisher of the leftist daily newspaper Evrensel, respectively, on charges of "insulting" Turkishness and state institutions under Article 301 of the Penal Code, Evrensel reported yesterday, noting that the journalists intend to appeal.
The charges stem from the newspaper's publication of a March 15, 2016, DİHA news report that included allegations that police shot at civilians at the southeastern city of Nusaybin, injuring three people. |
