Milliyet Cleared of Terrorist Propaganda

Mainstream newspaper Milliyet had been accused of reporting pro-Kurdish propaganda on its website. Newspaper chief and owner were acquitted on 23 May because court acknowledged public interest in the news.

Erol Önderoğlu

Mehmet Hatip Dicle, co-founder of the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) had spoken at a conference in London.

The mainstream newspaper "Milliyet" was tried for writing about the reactions to Dicle's speech on Kurdish Internet sites.

The chief of the newspaper, Hasan Cakkalkurt, and the owner, Aydin Dogan, have been acquitted. The Heavy Penal Court in Istanbul found that the publications on the Internet "were of interest to the public and "were newsworthy" and that there was no criminal intent.

They were acquitted on 23 May.

Milliyet had denied charges

In an earlier statement, Cakkalkurt had declared that he had been a journalist for 35 years and that the political line that "Milliyet" had followed for the last 57 years did made it impossible to conceive of it publishing terrorism propaganda.

He had given permission for the reporting of the views of DTP leaders because he considered them of interest to the public. (EÖ/EÜ/AG)

Erol Önderoğlu

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İstanbul Üniversitesi Fransız Filolojisi Bölümü'nden mezun. 1996'da muhabiri olduğu uluslararası Sınır Tanımayan Gazeteciler (RSF) örgütünün Türkiye temsilcisi olarak çalışıyor. 1999'dan beri İPS İletişim Vakfı'nın projesi olan bianet sitesinde, Hukuki Destek Masası koordinatörü, ifade özgürlüğü editörü ve yayın yönetmeni olarak çalıştı. 4.800'den fazla imzalı haber ve makalesi bulunuyor. Bizim Gazete ve Güncel Hukuk dergisi için haber ve makaleler yazdı. Halen bianet'te Medya Gözlem Raporları'nı hazırlıyor.