Turkey has issued an arrest warrant for journalist Deniz Yücel. One accusation: In his articles, he had insulted President Erdogan.
Istanbul - An arrest warrant has been issued for journalist Deniz Yücel. This decision was made by a Turkish court in a case in which Yücel is accused of insulting the president and denigrating the Turkish state and the judiciary, according to his lawyer Veysel Ok. The allegations relate to published articles by the german-Turkish correspondent for Die Welt.
The german-Turkish journalist Deniz Yücel. © Swen Pförtner/dpa
Turkish court issues arrest warrant for Deniz Yücel
Yücel was not present at the trial in Turkey. The journalist lives in Germany. As the MLSA lawyers' association explained, the accusations of the Turkish judiciary relate to articles in which Yücel called Turkish President Erdogan a "putschist". The writers' association PEN, of which Yücel is co-spokesman, demanded that the case be stopped immediately. However, according to the plans of the Turkish judiciary, the trial in Istanbul is scheduled to resume on October 17.
Deniz Yücel had already been detained without charge in the high-security prison Silivri west of Istanbul from February 2017 to February 2018. Only after long diplomatic negotiations between Ankara and Berlin was he released and was able to leave Turkey. Nevertheless, charges were brought against him in absentia - in July 2020 he was sentenced to around two years and ten months in prison for "terrorist propaganda" for the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
In January 2022, the European Court of Human Rights condemned Turkey for Yücel's detention, ruling that the action violated his human rights to liberty and security and freedom of expression. (dpa)