EU-Reforms Could Not Save the Journalist
After the EU-reforms were passed by the Turkish parliament, lawyer Mukrime Tepe applied to court on September 5, 2002, and demanded that Kizilyaprak is retried. The court rejected Tepe's application.
A State Security Court (DGM) in Istanbul decided that the regulations made on article 8 of Turkey's terrorism laws did not affect Kizilyaprak's case.
Tepe had made a similar application after the EU-reforms approved in February 2002. In her application petition, Tepe had stated that Kizilyaprak's sentence was ineffective due to the constitution regulation that states that, prison sentences will not be handed out to people who express opinions; and the regulations on Turkey's terrorism laws and media laws. Tepe demanded that Kizilyaprak is retried accordingly to the new legislation.
The journalist was sentenced to a year and four months in prison
Journalist Kizilyaprak was tried at the DGM for two articles that were published in an album called "Kurds from 1900 to 2000." The daily Free View gave out the album in exchange for coupons.
The court sentenced Kizilyaprak to a year and four months in prison for "disseminating separatist propaganda," in December 2002. He was also fined1 billion 622 million Turkish lira (985 USD).
The supreme appeals court approved Kizilyaprak's sentence in June 2001. Kizilyaprak paid his fine and suspended his prison sentence for four months by paying a bail of500 million Turkish lira (300 USD).The Contemporary Journalists (CGD) had helped Kizilyaprak in paying the bail and deferring the sentence. The journalist did not turn himself in, in September 2001, when the postponement ended, and became "wanted" as a "convicted journalist." This situation still continues.
The case is at the ECHR
Journalist Kizilyaprak took his case to the European Court of Human Rights on October 17, 2001, through his lawyer Tepe. Tepe based her application on articles 6, 9 and 10 of the European Human Rights Agreement. (EO/BB/NK/EA/NM)