The new Turkey
Sedat Sur.
 Özgürüz reporter

Sedat Sur, a reporter for the online media outlet Özgürüz.org, who was given an 11-month jail term last week for his news coverage and social media posts concerning the government-appointed trustees of the Mardin Municipality, is going to prison on 19 November to serve that sentence.
 
An investigation was launched into the journalist in 2017 following his report, which was about corruption allegations concerning the municipality. Upon the investigation’s completion, the Mardin Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office issued an indictment against the journalist, accusing Sur of “making the trustees a target,” “insult” and “disseminating propaganda for a terrorist organization.” At the final hearing of that court case last week on 9 November, the trial court convicted Sur of the “propaganda” charge and gave him a jail term of 11 months and 20 days. The court did not defer the sentence because of a previous conviction.
 
Sur is now headed to prison. Since his jail term is less than a year, normally Sur will have to be freed, but the journalist will still have to remain behind bars until his papers are formally submitted to the prison management.
 
Speaking to the online news portal Gazete Karınca about his looming imprisonment, Sur said: “Journalists are supposed to cover the news. If there are errors in a news report, then the journalist runs a correction. But my coverage has still not been denied.” Source

Journalist Sedat Sur said the Turkish authorities had sentenced him to imprisonment for his report over appointed mayor's corruption although his news was not falsified, Gazete Karınca reported . 

"There was corruption. I reported about it. My sources were solid. There is still no data or evidence to refute the news. But an investigation against me was started," Sur told Gazete Karınca. 

"It's anti-democratic to put a journalist behind bars for making news, but it's also ridiculous. A journalist makes news, if it is wrong, it can be disclaimed. My report has not been falsified yet. We aim to report the truth."

In 2016, Sur wrote an article titled " A billion worth 'religion conference' of the appointed mayor's municipality" and said the appointed trustee of Mardin Municipality underhandedly gave 400,000 Turkish liras to Nihat Hatipoğlu, a well-known theologian who has been in the close political circle of the ruling Justice and Development Party, according to Gazete Karınca.

Turkish authorities in 2017 launched an investigation against Sur for the report. A Turkish court on Nov. 9 ruled 11 months and 20 days of a prison sentence for Sur over the charges of "targeting an appointed mayor, insult, and making propaganda of an illegal organisation". 

Sur will be imprisoned on Nov. 19 to serve his time. He said on Twitter that he prepared his luggage for his "prison journey". 

The court's decision was a message to journalists for not to criticise the appointed mayor in the eve of the local elections, Sur said.

The Turkish government in March 2017 had taken direct control of 82 municipalities in the Kurdish populated southeast region, suspending and incarcerating elected mayors, according to Human Rights Watch. The government appointed mayors instead of the elected ones.

"The whole country was turned to a huge prison. It is not a problem for me to be imprisoned. The problem is people are going to jail because of their thoughts or news, criticism and non-violent opposition," Gazete Karınca quoted Sur as saying.  

The case of Sur presents the problems that journalists have been facing in Turkey, Gazete Karınca said. Source