March 22, 2015
By Yakup Centin/Betul Tanriseven/Kamil Arli
Samanyolu Broadcasting Group CEO (click here) Hidayet Karaca has been under arrest for 100 days as his family, lawyers and civil society groups continue to ask for his immediate release given the lack of evidence supporting the charges of being the leader of a terrorist organization.
Karaca, who is currently being held in Silivri Prison without any indictment or any reason for the extension of his arrest, was detained as part of a major media crackdown on Dec. 14, 2014, just three days before the first anniversary of the massive corruption investigations of Dec. 17 and 25. The year before the major crackdown on the Samanyolu Broadcasting Group and Turkey's best-selling daily Zaman, the government used all means possible to muzzle the remaining free and independent media to prevent questions about corruption.
In the crackdown, which targeted 27 people, including scriptwriters and a graphic designer, Karaca and three former police chiefs were arrested on charges of leading a terrorist network, while other detainees, including Zaman Editor-in-Chief Ekrem Dumanlı, were released pending trial.
In a decision announced on Dec. 19, 2014, Judge Bekir Altun decided in favor of the arrest of Karaca, although Karaca's questions about evidence of his alleged terrorist activities remain unanswered.
The only “evidence” supporting Karaca's arrest is a fictional TV series that was aired on Samanyolu TV in 2009 that mentions an extremist organization named Tahşiyeciler. The organization, which is sympathetic to al-Qaeda, was later subject to a police operation in which its leaders received prison time. The prosecutor argues that it was Karaca who plotted against this terrorist organization by means of sending messages to the police chiefs through the TV series that aired on his TV station. The judge used an illegally acquired phone conversation of Karaca in 2013 to arrest him for events that transpired in 2009, although the illegal wiretap was excluded from the case after Karaca's lawyers objected....
Perhaps President Obama should try to oppress the hatred toward him, too. Evidently, there would seem to be a global understanding that insults are hate and the understanding the government can act to suppress.
March 22, 2015
By Today's Zaman
A 21-year-old university student (click here) is facing the prospect of up to four-and-a-half years in prison for posts on Twitter that are alleged to have insulted President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan when he was prime minister.
According to the private Doğan news agency, the İzmir Police Department's Cyber Crimes Unit launched an investigation on Feb. 6 of last year against Alp A., who is studying at the Faculty of Economic and Administrative Sciences at İzmir's Ege University, on charges of posting comments insulting then-Prime Minister Erdoğan. The cybercrimes unit then passed the file to the İzmir Public Prosecutor's Office and Prosecutor Ali Fuat Taşkın opened a criminal case against the university student on the charge of insulting a public official regarding the performance of his duties. The prosecutor is seeking a prison sentence of between 18 months and four-and-a-half years, as per the Turkish Penal Code (TCK).
During his testimony to the police, Alp A. confirmed that the Twitter account belongs to him and that he has been managing the account since 2013. The student expressed regret over the post.
Alp A. is expected to appear before the court in the near future.
Dozens of people, including journalists, high school students, activists and even a former Miss Turkey, have been prosecuted for insulting Erdoğan on social media....
By Today's Zaman
A 21-year-old university student (click here) is facing the prospect of up to four-and-a-half years in prison for posts on Twitter that are alleged to have insulted President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan when he was prime minister.
According to the private Doğan news agency, the İzmir Police Department's Cyber Crimes Unit launched an investigation on Feb. 6 of last year against Alp A., who is studying at the Faculty of Economic and Administrative Sciences at İzmir's Ege University, on charges of posting comments insulting then-Prime Minister Erdoğan. The cybercrimes unit then passed the file to the İzmir Public Prosecutor's Office and Prosecutor Ali Fuat Taşkın opened a criminal case against the university student on the charge of insulting a public official regarding the performance of his duties. The prosecutor is seeking a prison sentence of between 18 months and four-and-a-half years, as per the Turkish Penal Code (TCK).
During his testimony to the police, Alp A. confirmed that the Twitter account belongs to him and that he has been managing the account since 2013. The student expressed regret over the post.
Alp A. is expected to appear before the court in the near future.
Dozens of people, including journalists, high school students, activists and even a former Miss Turkey, have been prosecuted for insulting Erdoğan on social media....
