When they're defined by the state or an NGO they don't mean much...
groups had denounced as an attempt to silence government critics.
The court in Istanbul sentenced Dr. Sebnem Korur Fincanci to nearly three years in prison but also ruled to release her from pre-trial detention while she appeals the verdict.
In
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire...
, people who get sentenced to less than four years are usually put under court supervision but allowed to go free.
Fincanci, 63, was arrested in October and charged with engaging in propaganda on behalf of the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK. The arrest followed a media interview in which she called for an independent investigation into allegations that the
...have not been used since WWI except for in Iraq, by the late, unlamented Saddam Hussein and in Syria, but really, honest, not by the Syrian government. And in Germany in WWII, but that was against civilians. Lots of them, just one of many reasons Hitler's also late and unlamented except among devout Moslems...
against Kurdish turbans in northern Iraq.
Fincanci is the latest
During her trial, Fincanci rejected accusations that she engaged in propaganda during the interview, arguing that she gave a professional opinion.
Fincanci told the court on Wednesday that she did not expect a fair trial.
She cited a
The charges stemmed from an interview she gave to the pro-Kurdish Medya Haber TV outlet and commented on a video purporting to show the use of chemical weapons. She suggested that a toxic gas may have been released but also called for an "effective investigation."
No, no! Certainly not!
allegations that the country used chemical weapons, insisting its military doesn’t have such weapons in its inventory. The PKK has led an armed insurgency against the
Her comments caused a backlash with
...Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey. In Anatolia did Recep Bey a stately Presidential Palace decree, that has 1100 rooms. That's 968 more than there are in the White House, 400 more than in Versailles, and 325 more than Buckingham Palace, so you know who's really most important...accusing her of slandering Turkey’s armed forces and of insulting her country "by speaking the language of the terrorist organization."
He vowed to introduce measures to clear the
Devlet Bahceli, the leader of a nationalist party that is allied with Erdogan’s ruling party, went further and demanded that she be stripped of her
The association, which has around 110,000 members across Turkey, had drawn the ire of government officials for questioning government data and criticizing some measures imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The union says that all 11 of its executive committee members are now under investigation for potential "membership of a terrorist organization".
In her final trial statements, Fincanci said the association was the actual target of the investigation, according to the Dokuz8haber website, which monitored the trial. She said freedom of expression and science were being undermined.
Fincanci’s collaborations with forensic experts working with the United Nations
...the Oyster Bay money pit...
in places such as Bosnia has drawn international attention to the trial.
A European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
delegation observed the trial on Wednesday, along with rights groups and supporters, in a packed courtroom.
Ahead of the hearing, Dr. Ole Johan Bakke of the Standing Committee of European Doctors, said the group was "deeply concerned about the continuous harassment of the
The World Medical Association has described the case against Fincanci as "unfounded, unlawful and unacceptable" and had called for her immediate acquittal.
The Istanbul court sentenced her to two years, eight months and 15 days in prison. She is expected to appeal the verdict.
Other leading civil society figures and dozens of journalists are imprisoned in Turkey. Terror propaganda laws have also been used to crackdown on pro-Kurdish politicians and