Defendants: Seda Taşkın

Media Outlet and Position: Mezopotamya News Agency – Journalist

Accusations: Aiding and abetting a terrorist organization whilst not being a member; Terrorist propaganda

Sentence: 7 years 6 months

Court: Erzurum Regional Court of Justice

Case Background: 

Seda Taşkın, a journalist for Mezopotamya News Agency, was arrested on January 23, 2018, over accusations of “membership in a terrorist organization”. Taşkın was taken into custody by police at her home in Ankara. She had previously been detained on December 20, 2017, while reporting from Muş province, in relation to the same case.

The prosecution appealed her release on December 23, 2017, and requested her re-arrest, which led to her being held in pretrial detention a month later.  She was accused of “producing propaganda for YPG forces”, a reference to Kurdish forces in Syria that Turkey considers to be a terrorist organization. Taşkın was imprisoned in Ankara’s Sincan Prison.

On October 10, 2018, the court sentenced her to seven years and six months on the charges of “aiding and abetting a terrorist organization whilst not being a member” and “producing terrorist propaganda”.

On January 17, 2019, marking her 360^th day in prison, Taşkın was awarded discretionary release. Her lawyer appealed her sentence. Erzurum Regional Court of Appeal held the first hearing for re-evaluation of her verdict on March 20, 2019, which she attended from an Ankara court via judicial video conferencing system “SEGBIS”.  She has denied the prosecutor’s charges against her and requested a full acquittal. The defense has been granted additional time to prepare their case, and the court will reconvene on May 15, 2019.

Read the full article about her case here.