KURDISH INITIATIVE AND FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

The Diyarbakır 6^th High Criminal Court prolonged journalist Vedat Kurşun's detention until 18 February 2010. Kurşun is the former editor-in-chief of the Kurdish Azadiya Welat daily newspaper. The journalist is being tried for a prison sentence under charges of publishing articles and news items about the Kurdish question and the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

In this case, the period of time Kurşun has to stay in detention will be extended for another 3 months to 13 months in total. The Kurdish journalist had been arrested at Atatürk Airport, Istanbul's main airport on the European side, on 30 January. Kurşun had come to the city to testify in another court case. After the arrest, he was taken into detention and finally brought to the Diyarbakır D Type Prison in the south-east of Turkey.

The court ruled to postpone the trial to 18 February next year. In the coming hearing, the file will be presented to the appointed prosecutor so that he can prepare is final speech on the substance of the matter.

Danger of conviction for membership of an organization

Kurşun made his defence on 10 September. He claimed to have been detained for a long time and to have become a victim and demanded his release from detention.

There are more than 20 cases pending against the Kurdish journalist. He is being prosecuted under allegations of "helping and abetting the PKK organization by spreading propaganda" and "glorifying crimes and criminals" on the grounds of published articles in numerous issues of the Kurdish daily Azadiya Welat.

If the court should conclude that the propaganda was spread in a systematic manner, there could also be a verdict because of criminal "membership of an organization".

Özen: National media discusses articles of Azadiya Welat

Kurşun's lawyer Servet Özen previously talked to bianet, pointing out that the articles and news in question were published under the scope of freedom of expression and the right to inform the people.

"The news items and articles were published in the opinion that no element of crime had been embedded. The issue of discussing the democratic initiative is a topic currently being printed and discussed in the entire press regarding the topic of the PKK and Adullah Öcalan as negotiators. So why do these publications account for a crime as far as my client's newspaper is concerned?"

Pointing out that some columnists in the national press even discuss the "negotiation" issue, lawyer Özen underlined that his client merely conveyed the events without making additions on his own behalf (EÖ/VK)