47 years jail sentence to journalist Sebahattin Sürmeli
47 years jail sentence to journalist Sebahattin Sürmeli
Özgür Halk (Free People) Magazine trial at Istanbul 11th High Criminal Court ended with heavy imprisonment sentences handed down to Kurdish journalists.
The court sentenced magazine editor Sebahattin Sürmeli to 47 years in prison and other six journalists to a total of eight years.
Editor Sürmeli, who has been held in jail since the case was opened in 2006, was denied permission to defend himself in Kurdish language during the trial. Sürmeli’s lawyer Hacer Çekiç also objected to the court board, stating that considering her client’s attendance of a funeral ceremony as a criminal evidence was unacceptable.
While defendants were sentenced to imprisonment on the grounds of alleged “membership of an illegal organization”, Sürmeli was sentenced to a total of 47 years for allegedly “possessing and using explosive material”, “membership of an illegal organization” and “spreading propaganda and committing crime on behalf of an illegal organization”.
The court sentenced magazine editor Sebahattin Sürmeli to 47 years in prison and other six journalists to a total of eight years.
Editor Sürmeli, who has been held in jail since the case was opened in 2006, was denied permission to defend himself in Kurdish language during the trial. Sürmeli’s lawyer Hacer Çekiç also objected to the court board, stating that considering her client’s attendance of a funeral ceremony as a criminal evidence was unacceptable.
While defendants were sentenced to imprisonment on the grounds of alleged “membership of an illegal organization”, Sürmeli was sentenced to a total of 47 years for allegedly “possessing and using explosive material”, “membership of an illegal organization” and “spreading propaganda and committing crime on behalf of an illegal organization”.
