The new Turkey
Dicle Müftüoğlu.
Responsible managing editor of the shuttered Dicle News Agency (DİHA)

24-Jan-2019 13:43

7 June 2018:
DİHA editor fined
 
Dicle Müftüoğlu, the responsible managing editor of the shuttered Dicle News Agency (DİHA), was sentenced to judicial fine of 1041 days on 7 June. Co-defendant Zekeriya Güzüpek, who was the DİHA Executive Board chairman, was acquitted.
 
Müftüoğlu and Güzüpek were on trial on the charge of “terrorist group membership,” carrying up to 15 years in jail, based on the content of 20 news reports distributed by the agency in 2015.
 
During the final hearing of the trial at the Diyarbakır 5th High Criminal Court, the prosecutor requested acquittal of Güzüpek, saying there was not sufficient evidence conclusively indicating that he committed the crime of “membership in a terrorist organization.” The prosecutor also amended the charge for Müftüoğlu and requested her conviction of the lesser charge of “legitimizing methods of a terrorist organization that include the use of force and violence through publications” under Article 6 of the Anti-Terror Law.
 
The court concurred and ruled to defer sentencing of Müftüoğlu given that she did not have a prior conviction. Müftüoğlu will be required to pay the fine if she is convicted again in the next five years.*