Lawyer, human rights activist and former co-Editor-in-Chief of the pro-Kurdish Özgür Gündem newspaper Eren Keskin was defiant in the wake of a ruling that sentenced her to 7.5 years in prison for news reports that were printed in Özgür Gündem when she was in charge of the newspaper.
“I was sentenced to 7.5 years in prison because of my roles as editor-in-chief of Özgür Gündem. I renounce this,” she said after an Istanbul court handed down the prison sentence.
Keskin currently faces various charges in 143 trials. She had earlier been given monetary fines in some of these trials. Recently, it emerged that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s lawyers attempted to expel her from the Bar Association.
The rights defender had earlier said that she would rather go to jail than leave Turkey.
Özgür Gündem was shut down under a cabinet decree in late 2016 as part of Turkey’s State of Emergency declared after a coup attempt in that year.
Keskin and Özgür Gündem Managing Editor Reyhan Çapan were given 7.5 years in prison on charges of “insulting the organs of the state” and “insulting the president of the Republic of Turkey.” Columnists Ayşe Batumlu, reporter Ersin Çaksu and former co-Editor-in-Chief Hüseyin Aykol were also given prison sentences, but these were deferred for the time being.
The sentences concern several news reports that appeared in Gündem in 2015.
