Journalist Deniz Kılıç was arrested on 5 April after his conviction on the grounds of his statements regarding the campaign "Öcalan is my political power" voiced on the Kurdish television channel Roj TV. Kılıç is the representative in Batman (south-east Anatolia) of the Kurdish daily Azadiya Welat. The campaign referred to Abdullah Öcalan, imprisoned leader of the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

Kılıç was previously arrested and released pending trial in the scope of the case heard before the Diyarbakır 4^th High Criminal Court. He was eventually sentenced to imprisonment of two years and one month. Thereupon, he was taken into custody at his home in the Bahçelievler district of Batman and taken to the Batman M Type Prison.

Çelik: The aim is to intimidate journalists

Kılıç was previously kept in prison as a detained defendant for the duration of ten months. He was then released pending trial. It was said that the journalist would remain in prison for another eight months now according to the Criminal Enforcement Law which foresees a mitigation of punishment on the condition of good conduct. The Batman Mesopotamia Association of Journalists and Publishers condemned the conviction. "The decision given in Kılıç's case is a blow on press freedom and aims to intimidate journalists", the association criticized.

M. Kemal Çelik released a statement on behalf of the association. He reminded Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's saying that "In Turkey, nobody is behind bars because of his/her journalistic activities". Çelik emphasized that Kılıç was arrested on 5 April "only because of his journalistic activities". Çelik demanded Kılıç's release. (EÖ/VK)