Turkey: Journalist Durket Süren handed suspended prison term over terror propaganda charge
Location: Turkey, Diyarbakır
Date: February 21, 2022Available in: 🇹🇷 Türkçe
The ninth hearing of the case against journalist Durket Süren on terrorism charges continued today. The court sentenced the journalist to one year, six months, and 22 days in prison on charges of "making terror propaganda" and deferred the announcement of the verdict for five years. The Coalition For Women In Journalism (CFWIJ) condemns the prison sentence given to Durket. The legal harassment of journalists cannot be acceptable. Journalism is not a crime.
The ninth hearing of the trial against the journalist was held on Monday (February 21) at the Diyarbakır 11th High Criminal Court. Durket faced trial on charges of being affiliated with a terrorist organization, knowingly and willingly aiding an organization, and spreading propaganda for an organization. She is also being sued for her social media posts and is accused of selling banned issues of Azadiya Welat and Özgür Gündem newspapers.
The journalist who was put through pre-trial detention earlier was represented by her lawyers in court on Monday.
The prosecution renewed his opinion submitted in the previous hearing. The prosecutor maintained that the charges of “aiding abetting” against the journalist can be dropped but sought a conviction for Durket on charges of “spreading terrorist propaganda”.
Durket’s lawyer Yusuf Erdoğan defended his client and stated that they agreed with the prosecution acquittal request for the accusation of “aiding abetting” against the journalist, but they objected to the prison sentence request for the charge of "making propaganda for a terrorist organization". The lawyer also added the social media posts that are the subject of the accusation obtained illegally. He drew attention to the Constitutional Court that the law enforcement could not search individuals' social media accounts without the prosecution’s warrant. He said the prosecutor’s argument of 14 different posts shared by the journalist, did not belong to Durket.
He added that the posts which linked to the journalist cannot be considered as ‘terrorist propaganda’, because the organization was not accepted as a terrorist organization by the time Durket mentioned it.
Announcing the decision after the defense of the lawyers, the court acquitted the journalist from the charge of knowingly and willingly aiding an organization. However, the journalist was sentenced to one year, six months, and 22 days in prison for "making propaganda for a terrorist organization". The court also lifted the travel ban on the journalist.
Durken was earlier detained in Diyarbakır following a search warrant issued for her around two years ago. The journalist’s social media posts, tape recordings, correspondence with sources in connection with a TV news segment she produced in 2017 and her membership with the Free Journalists Association have been cited as criminal evidence against her.
The CFWIJ condemns the legal policies implemented to intimidate journalists. We demand the immediate annulment of the prison sentence given to journalist Durket Süren. Journalism is not a crime.
The Coalition For Women In Journalism is a global organization of support for women journalists. The CFWIJ pioneered mentorship for mid-career women journalists across several countries around the world and is the first organization to focus on the status of free press for women journalists. We thoroughly document cases of any form of abuse against women in any part of the globe. Our system of individuals and organizations brings together the experience and mentorship necessary to help female career journalists navigate the industry. Our goal is to help develop a strong mechanism where women journalists can work safely and thrive.
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