A Turkish court has sentenced Kurdish journalist Öznur Değer to three years and four and a half months in prison on charges of “terrorist propaganda.” The verdict was announced on Tuesday by the Second Heavy Penal Court in Mardin. Değer is the news editor of the Kurdish women’s news agency Jin News.
The verdict was handed down in the absence of the defendant and her lawyers. The trial was initiated following a raid last February, during which Değer was arrested in the district of Kızıltepe at her family’s home by the Turkish Special Anti-Terrorism Police Unit (PÖH), who used force to apprehend her. She was held in pretrial detention for around three months before being released on bail in May.
The charges were based on the controversial Article 7/2 of Turkey’s Anti-Terrorism Law, which criminalizes “propaganda” in connection with an organization listed as “terrorist” – in this case, allegedly repeated in favor of the PKK. The charges related to Değer’s reports and social media posts about a deadly drone strike by the Turkish army in northern and eastern Syria in late 2024, in which journalists Nazım Daştan and Cihan Bilgin were killed.
The Amed (Diyarbakır)-based Dicle Firat Journalists’ Association (DFG) sharply criticized the verdict, saying: “We do not accept this verdict against our colleague. We reiterate: Journalism is not a crime—and must not be criminalized.”
For years, the Human Rights Association (IHD) has been complaining that the Turkish judiciary is abusing anti-terrorism law and the extremely broad interpretation of what constitutes “terrorism” in order to suppress dissenting opinions. Especially in the case of Kurds and leftists, unfounded accusations of terrorism are systematically exploited to punish unpopular actions. Even political speeches, critical writings, and participation in demonstrations are often prosecuted as “terrorism.”