Ozan Kaplanoğlu, the editor-in-chief of Bursa Muhalif newspaper, a local outlet based in Bursa, northwestern Turkey, has been sent to prison after being convicted of insulting then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan during a protest in December 2013.
Kaplanoğlu was sentenced to one year and nine months in prison in one case and 11 months and 20 days in another, both of which were upheld by appellate courts. Following the revocation of a conditional release decision, he was sent to Bursa E-Type Closed Prison on Feb 5 to serve the remaining five and a half months of his sentence.
Kaplanoğlu’s lawyer, Kemal Özgür Yetkin, argued that his client had been punished for an act that should be considered freedom of thought and expression.
Yetkin also raised concerns about overcrowding in the prison. “The facility was not designed to accommodate such a high number of inmates,” he stated, criticizing the poor physical conditions inside the prison.
The DİSK Basın-İş journalists’ union condemned Kaplanoğlu’s imprisonment, linking it to broader pressures on the press. “Journalism is under siege in Turkey,” the union said in a statement, also referring to the arrests of four journalists during police raids in 10 cities, including İstanbul, this morning.
BIA Media Monitoring Reports
(HA/VK)
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