Turkish regime anti-Kurdish journalists a Kurdish journalist who works with Azadiya welat sentenced to 10 years in prison in Turkey, we are calling on the Turkish government free all Kurdish journalists trapped in turkey

Turkish regime anti-Kurdish journalists a Kurdish journalist who works with Azadiya welat sentenced to 10 years in prison in Turkey, we are calling on the Turkish government free all Kurdish journalists trapped in turkey.

Azadiya Welat former editor sentenced to ten years in prison.

Diyarbakır 8th High Criminal Court has sentenced former editor in chief of Kurdish daily Azadiya Welat, İbrahim Güvenç, to ten years three months and 22 days in prison for allegedly spreading propaganda on the sixth issue of the daily. Güvenç was also served with a pecuniary penalty of 16,500 TL.

Azadiya Welat's current editor in chief, Aydın Atar, is also being tried by Diyarbakır 8th High Criminal Court on the grounds of spreading propaganda for an illegal organization. Atar's trial is still going on.

ANF - AMED

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Eleven years sentence for journalists platform spokesperson.

Necati Abay, spokesperson of the Platform for Solidarity with Journalists in Prison, was sentenced to 11 years and three months in prison by Istanbul 12th High Criminal Court.
In a written statement responding to the prison sentence, journalist Abay said that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was directly responsible for the prison sentence given to him. 

Abay, accused of being a member of an illegal organization, criticized the court for giving the sentence despite the absence of any concrete evidences during his trial for the last ten years. Abay remarked that the court also imposed him a ban on leaving the country as well as a judicial control. 

A local court had earlier sentenced Abay to 18 years and nine months in prison but the Penal Department No. 9 of the Supreme Court reversed the sentence, demanding Abay's trial on charges of membership to an illegal organization. “However, nothing has changed in the second trial except for the injustice”, he said. 

Holding PM Erdoğan responsible for the prison sentence, Abay said that “On March 7, 2012, the PM accused the Platform for Solidarity with Journalists in Prison for making up a false list of journalists in prison which at that time included 105 journalists behind bars. I believe this smear activity by Erdoğan has had a direct influence on the prison sentence I was given by both a local court and the Supreme Court”. 

Abay noted that Turkish dailies Star and Akit were also responsible for the prison sentence for pointing him as a target on 28 January. 

Abay, underlining that he will never end his seek for justice, said that he was sentenced to imprisonment as a price of his appeal to the ECHR against torturing police officers and the Turkish state.

ANF - Istanbul