ANKARA - Poet Ahmet Telli was sentenced to 10 months in prison in the case where he was tried on charges of "making propaganda for a terrorist organization".

 

The third hearing of the case, in which the poet Ahmet Telli was tried for the speech he made in the press release he attended in 2017 and the poem he read from the book "Fighting Tells", was held at the Ankara 26th High Criminal Court. The hearing was followed by many rights defenders from abroad and Turkey, as well as the Science, Art and Literature Association and the Human Rights Association (İHD) Ankara Branch.

 

The prosecutor, in his previous opinion, claimed that the speech and poem in question contained "terrorist propaganda" and demanded that Telli be sentenced to up to 8 years in prison. Defending against the opinion, Telli stated that he participated in the press release with the responsibility of intellectuals and said: "My purpose was to read poetry. It is claimed that I made 'organization propaganda' with the poem in my book 'Fighting Tells', which has reached the second edition. As an intellectual, I have been involved in social issues before, this is my duty, I demanded my acquittal."

 

Reminding that 75 people who participated in the statement in 2017 were not punished in any of the lawsuits filed separately, his lawyer, Umut Vedat Acar said: "Court committees see that the report turns into an indictment, the indictment turns into an opinion and there is no evidence of a crime. No court has punished this statement for "propagandizing for a terrorist organization" and demanded his client's acquittal.

 

SENTENCE WAS POSTPONED

 

Announcing its decision, the court stated that Telii had committed the crime charged against him and sentenced him to 10 months in prison for "propagandizing for a terrorist organization". The court later decided to postpone the sentence.