An award-winning journalist receives a life sentence from a Turkish court
Rojhat Dogru was at the center of a gunfight that broke out during clashes in Diyarbakir in October 2014. A bullet struck Dogru, who was rushed to a hospital, where he broadcast live footage to the Iraqi Kurdistan TV channel while in treatment. In 2007, seven years after the clashes, Dogru won an award for his coverage. Now he is fighting a life sentence for his reporting.
Last week, a Diyarbakir court sentenced Dogru for "disrupting the unity and integrity of the state." It also handed him a 10-year and 10-month sentence for "attempted deliberate killing," and a year and three-month sentence for "propaganda for a terrorist organization."
Dogru was a Kurdish journalist covering events in Diyarbakir and the region for Gali Kurdistan TV, including footage from what were the Kobani protests in 2014. His coverage earned him an award from the Southeastern Journalists Association. Resul Temur, the journalist's lawyer, told VOA the first lawsuit against Dogru was filed three years after the clashes. In some reports, Ridvan Ozdemir is identified as the plaintiff who says he was injured by bullets fired from Dogru's direction during the clashes.
Ozdemir claimed Dogru shot him, and charges were filed against him for "disrupting the unity and integrity of the state" and "attempt at deliberate murder." Dogru denied the allegations. Police in Diyarbakir allegedly discovered Dogru's number on a PKK member who had been detained. Dogru was placed in pretrial detention in December of that year on charges of "membership of a terrorist organization." He was released under judicial supervision in February 2019.
The legal charges were later combined by a judge in Diyarbakir into one case, which was concluded on January 6. Several press freedom advocates believe that a higher court should reverse the verdict on appeal.
* This article contains information sourced from the VOA.
