İlkem Ezgi Aşam is sentenced to a year in prison for publishing a four-sentence quote in the daily Birgün, Hürriyet Daily News reported.
A journalist from the daily Birgün was sentenced to a year in prison by an Istanbul court Dec 15 for publishing a four sentence quote regarding mass graves in the southeastern province of Bitlis, though the sentence is yet to be ratified by a higher court.
Receiving others’ opinions to write a news piece is a journalist’s most democratic right, said İlkem Ezgi Aşam, while pleading 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 (IHD), 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. Öner was detained while he was visiting an acquaintance in prison and sent to court to testify, according to reports.
Azadiya Welat has under the government’s watch since it first began to be published in 2006. Forcibly shut down nine times, 13 of its journalists are currently behind bars, including four of its former chief editors.
