BirGün Newspaper Fined For Blasphemy
BirGün newspaper responsible editor İlker Yaşar and owner Bülent Yılmaz were fined for blasphemy due to two articles written by an anonymous columnist with the nickname “Tanrı (cc)” - god in Turkish.
According to that, Istanbul 2nd Assize Court convicted İlker Yaşar and Bülent Yılmaz of “humiliating the religious values of fraction of a society”, ordering 7 months and 17 days of prison.
While the sentence was commuted to a fine, two defendants will have to pay 4,500 liras [around 2,000 euros].
Another defendant of the case, BirGün’s former internet editor Ufuk Çalışkan, also received a sentence but the declaration of sentence was postponed.
On the other hand, the aforementioned article was removed from the website.
İnce: Not the first case
BirGün newspaper editor-in-chief Barış İnce said that the fine was imposed due to the fact that they were subjected several other prosecutions. [Usually, these cases end with a verdict but the declaration of verdict is postponed.]
İnce said the newspaper had pending trials regarding “insulting public officers” when they published an article about allegations on Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his family’s involvement in the corruption probe.(AS/BM)
* Click here to read the article in Turkish.