Jailed journalist Nedim Türfent infected with Corona

Kurdish journalist Nedim Türfent has apparently fallen ill with Corona. This was made public by the relatives of the 32-year-old journalist imprisoned in the high-security prison in Van on Friday. They were informed by the prison management in the early hours of the morning that a Corona test had shown a positive result. Türfent is now in a cell in the quarantine area of the prison and is being isolated from his fellow prisoners. No information has been given about the journalist’s health condition or whether symptoms are present.

Nedim Türfent case: imprisoned over false testimony under torture

Journalist Nedim Türfent has been in prison since May 2016, including about two years in solitary confinement. At the end of 2017, he was sentenced to eight years and nine months in prison for “membership in a terrorist organisation” and “terrorist propaganda”. The charges brought against him in the indictment, drawn up only thirteen months after his arrest, point to posts on online networks, his journalistic activities – according to the court, Türfent had “exaggerated news reports by making exaggerated and disturbing comments” – and a total of 20 anonymous witness statements. In the court proceedings, 19 out of 20 witnesses stated that they had testified against Türfent under torture. The prosecutor in charge saw Türfent’s journalistic activities and his articles as sufficient evidence to demand a prison sentence of over 22 years.

“Now you will feel the power of the Turks!”

Shortly before the arrest of Türfent, who worked for the Kurdish news agency DIHA (Dicle Haber Ajansı), which has since been banned by emergency decree, a video from the Kurdish province of Hakkari had caused an international stir. The scenes showed a special unit of the Turkish police handcuffing 50 Kurdish construction workers and forcing them to lie on the ground. The following sentences were uttered: “Now you will feel the power of the Turks! I know your faces now. Whoever betrays us must expect the consequences. What has this state done to you? Now you will feel the power of the Turks.”

Case pending before the ECtHR in Strasbourg

Nedim Türfent was the first journalist to report on the incident. After DIHA published the news article under the title “Now you will feel the power of the Turks”, he received death threats from members of JITEM (informal secret service of the Turkish military police, gendarmerie).

The court proceedings against Türfent were quite swift by Turkish standards and resembled a show trial. The first hearing took place in June 2017. He was denied the right to appear in court in person a total of seven times. Instead, he had to testify via the video conferencing system SEGBIS.

On 15 December 2017, Türfent was initially sentenced to seven years in prison. Later, the term of imprisonment was extended to eight years and nine months due to the “continued existence of the facts”. A regional court of appeal upheld the sentence in June 2018, and the Supreme Court of Cassation in October 2019. His case is now pending before the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).