The new Turkey |
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06-Dec-2019 |
An indictment prepared by the prosecutor in Istanbul said Özgentürk was conducting terror propaganda by sharing photos on social media during her visit to the southeast Turkish town of Suruç in 2015, according to Cumhuriyet. The veteran journalist was in Suruç to report on the events of following the siege of the neighbouring Syrian town of Kobane by the Islamic State (ISIS) forces in an attempt to take the majority Kurdish town from the Syrian Kurdish militants defending it. One of the evidence against Özgentürk was her photo showing images of three female Kurdish activists, who were murdered in Paris in 2013, hanged on the barbed tape at the border. Three women, including Sakine Cansız, a co-founder of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), were shot dead in a Kurdish information centre in Paris in 2013. Columnist Işıl Özgentürk convicted of “inciting hatred” Işıl Özgentürk, a columnist for Cumhuriyet daily, was given a prison sentence of 1 year and 6 months on the charge of “inciting hatred and animosity or degrading the public” on 4 July 2019. Özgentürk was on trial because of a 13 January 2019 article she wrote for Cumhuriyet, titled “Yeni kuşak türbanlılar” (New generation of hijab wearers). Özgentürk was represented by her lawyer Fikret İlkiz at the 4 July 2019 hearing. Issuing its verdict at the end of the hearing, the Istanbul 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance initially sentenced Özgentürk to 1 year in prison. The court increased the sentence by half on the grounds that “the offense was committed through the press.” Based on a previous deferred conviction against Özgentürk, the sentence was not suspended or deferred because the court was “not of the opinion that the defendant would refrain from committing another offense.” |
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A Turkish prosecutor requested a 7.5-year
