An arrangement of newspapers pictured in London on March 23, 2017, as an illustration, shows the front pages of the UK daily newspapers reporting on the March 22 terror attack that claimed at least three lives in Westminster central London. Britain’s parliament reopened on Thursday with a minute’s silence in a gesture of defiance a day after an attacker sowed terror in the heart of Westminster, killing three people before being shot dead. Sombre-looking lawmakers in a packed House of Commons chamber bowed their heads and police officers also marked the silence standing outside the headquarters of London’s Metropolitan Police nearby. / AFP PHOTO
A Turkish journalist was sentenced to 18 months in jail after being convicted of spreading terrorist propaganda during a stint as guest editor of a pro-Kurdish newspaper, a report said on Tuesday.
Ekrem Celikkan sat in as Editor-In-Chief of Ozgur Gundem for one day and also wrote several articles for the paper.
Celikkan was part of a group of people who took the top job in rotation as an act of solidarity with the media outlet, which was eventually shuttered in 2016 by the authorities.
The same Istanbul court ordered that academic Beyza Ustun be on probation for five years for the same act.
The report said the court was convinced she would not commit another crime.
At least, 145 media workers are behind bars in Turkey, which has been in a state of emergency since a failed coup in 2016 and ranks 155 out of 180 countries on the Reporters without Borders Press Freedom Index.
In a separate incident, three people were detained in Ankara at a vigil for lecturer Nuriye Gulmen and primary schoolteacher Semih Ozakca, who are on hunger strike.
Both lost their jobs in the purges that followed the failed coup.
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