News Three-year prison sentence for journalist Eskin approved by Turkey's appeal court
Three-year prison sentence for journalist Eskin approved by Turkey's appeal court
Journalist İsmail Eskin
The prison sentence, which was given to now-closed Dicle news agnecy (DİHA) reporter İsmail Eskin, was approved by the regional appeal court on Thursday over charges of "spreading terrorist propaganda."
3rd Regional Penal Court in Gaziantep province has approved the 3 years, 1 month and 15 days prison sentence sought by Diyarbakır 4th High Criminal Court for Kurdish journalist İsmail Eskin.
Eskin was prosecuted for alleged charges of "spreading propaganda for a terrorist organisation" over his Twitter posts in which he reported about the human rights violations committed during the curfews in Diyarbakır and The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) attacks on Kobanê region of Syria.
Turkey is the leading jailer of journalists in the world. The Stockholm Center for Freedom (SCF) has documented that 263 journalists are now in jails as of June 24, most in pre-trial detention languishing in notorious Turkish prisons without even a conviction. Of those in Turkish prisons, 239 are arrested pending trial, only 24 journalists remain convicted and serving time in Turkish prisons. An outstanding detention warrants remain for 105 journalists who live in exile or remain at large in Turkey.