Journalist jailed for publishing quotes

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

A court has sentenced İlkem Ezgi Aşam to a year in prison for publishing a four-sentence quote in daily BirGün.

Journalist İlkem Ezgi Aşam has been sentenced to a year in prison for publishing a four-sentence quote in daily BirGün.

An Istanbul court passed down the verdict yesterday, punishing Aşam for publishing a four-sentence quote regarding mass graves in the southeastern province of Bitlis.

Conveying others’ opinions in news piece is a journalist’s most democratic right, Aşam said  in court. The court’s verdict first has to be ratified by the Supreme Court of Appeals, however. If convicted, Aşam will become the 67th journalist behind bars in Turkey. 

The article entitled “Religious Community General in the Mutki excavations,” included a quotation from Hasan Ceylan, the Bitlis representative of the Human Rights Association (İHD), which drew a connection between Korkmaz Tağma, a senior army commander, and the killings in the southeastern region. 

Tağma later filed the suit that led to Aşam’s one-year sentence. 

Meanwhile, Menderes Öner, the license holder of the Kurdish language daily Azadiya Welat, was taken into custody by law enforcement officials yesterday. 

Öner was detained while he was visiting an acquintance in prison and sent to court to testify, according to reports. 

Azadiya Welat has been under the government’s watch since it first began publishing in 2006. Forcibly shut down nine times, 13 of its journalists are currently behind bars, including four of its former chief editors.