ANKARA, Turkey (A.W.)— On March 1, Turkish journalist and grandson of Cemal (Djemal) Pasha, Hasan Cemal, was convicted on charges of “insulting the president” for an article published in 2016, Istanbul based Hurriyet Daily News reported. He received a suspended sentence of 11 months and 20 days in prison.
Hasan Cemal (Photo: haber.sol.org.tr)
The Ankara 24th criminal court of first instance decided the verdict over an article in which quoted remarks by opposition Republican People’s Party leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu about President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
The prosecutor claimed that Cemal “exceeded the limits of criticism” by accusing Erdoğan of “dictatorship and corruption” in an article published on the T24 news website on Jan. 16, 2016.
When Cemal testified, he said that the remarks about the president were said by Kılıçdaroğlu and should be evaluated with regards to freedom of expression.
In a different case, Cemal was sentenced to a 15 month suspended prison term on charges of “conducting terror propaganda” and “praising crime and criminals” on Feb. 14, according to Hurriyet.
He also faces charges for terror related crimes committed when he served as editor-in-chief of the now-defunct daily Özgür Gündem (Turkish for “Free Agenda”)—an Istanbul-based daily newspaper that was “temporarily” shut down in Aug. 2106, following a court order and the arrest of nearly twenty journalists and editors.