Turkish Cypriot journalist Sener Levent has told CNA that he hopes for a European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruling in his case against Turkey that “will strengthen the principle of freedom of expression” in the Turkish Cypriot community and Turkey.
In statements to the Cyprus News Agency (CNA), the well-known Turkish Cypriot journalist and intellectual explains the rationale behind his recent appeal to the ECHR.
“We have appealed to the ECHR through our lawyer Öncel Polili because we approach the lawsuits filed against me and our newspaper (Avrupa) in Cyprus and Ankara as legal harassment,” Levent says replying to a question on the matter.
Recently, he adds, “a plethora of criminal cases against us have been launched. The trials were initiated following complaints from the army and the embassy over articles published in our newspaper.”
“There is a noteworthy issue,” Levent then underlines, adding that “some lawsuits currently underway are also being brought before Ankara’s criminal courts.”
He continues noting that “we witnessed this with the notorious cartoon-collage case”. He explains that “we were tried and acquitted two years ago, in this case, on the island. However, the prosecutor’s office appealed to the Supreme Court. For the past two years, we have been awaiting the appeal decision.”
His newspaper, then called “Afrika”, Levent and another journalist Ali Osman had been acquitted by a “Nicosia district court” in the Turkish occupied territories on May 16, 2019. They had faced up to five years in prison on charges of insulting and defaming Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan. They were on trial for “insulting a foreign leader” after the newspaper published a cartoon showing a Greek statue urinating on Erdogan’s head in December 2017.
“While we were waiting for this decision, they started a parallel lawsuit in Ankara. I was tried in absentia, and I was informed of the verdict in the process. I was not summoned to a hearing. And the verdict was a one-year prison sentence. It was then converted to a fine. I was asked to pay for it. I did not obey the court’s decision or make any payment,” he says.
Levent believes his conviction in a case against him for which he had been previously exonerated violates basic legal standards. The journalist also asserts that the Turkish side is signaling Turkish Cypriots by holding a concurrent hearing in Ankara that: “Your assessment is flawed. The decision ought to have been made in our favour.”
Levent maintains that all the lawsuits against Avrupa constitute legal harassment. “This abuse has been occurring for a long time. I’m hoping our appeal will be accepted by the ECHR,” the Turkish Cypriot intellectual adds.
Finally, in response to a question regarding the likely outcome of the appeal to the ECHR, Levent stresses that “we are suing Turkey. We believe that this is important. We expect a positive outcome for freedom of expression.”
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively.
Source: Cyprus News Agency