Mardin 2nd High Criminal Court sentenced JINNEWS News Director Öznur Değer to one year and six months in prison and former Yeni Yaşam Managing Editor Osman Akın to 10 months over reports on allegations that villagers had been tortured in Nusaybin. The journalists were tried on a charge of “targeting persons who took part in combating terrorism” because they reported on 16 July allegations that villagers had been tortured during a house raid on 9 July 2024. Prosecutors cited the inclusion of a photograph and career history of Kızıltepe Acting District Gendarmerie Commander Kamil Aksoy in the reports as grounds for the charge. At the fifth hearing in the case opened following Aksoy’s complaint, the court sentenced Değer to one year and six months and rejected requests to defer the announcement of the verdict and suspend the sentence. It reduced Akın’s sentence to 10 months, deferred announcement of the verdict and imposed a five-year supervision period. The journalists’ lawyers sought acquittal, arguing that information about Aksoy had previously been published in other newspapers and that the reports were based on public sources and a criminal complaint concerning the torture allegations. The court rejected the defense arguments and issued convictions.
6 October 2026
MLSA