Email harasser must pay $5,300 for racist threats against Armenian newspaper, Istanbul court rules

by Lou Ann Matossian

Published: Wednesday December 16, 2009 in Dateline Democracy: News and views from today’s Turkey

Minneapolis - Sparking hopes for the Turkish judiciary system, the Sisli (Istanbul) Second Magistrate Criminal Court has convicted a fourth individual of harassing the Istanbul Armenian weekly Agos, reported the BIA News Center on Dec. 15.

Kenan Celepoglu of Samsun was fined 8,000 TL ($5,286) for "insult via an oral or written message" on the grounds of anonymous emails he had sent to Agos. The messages allegedly contained insults, threats, and racist statements.

"It is a positive and hopeful sign for the Turkish judiciary system that this kind of racism and hostile actions are punished without reducing the sentence," said Agos attorney Fethiye Çetin. "In our opinion, these examples have an intimidating effect [on offenders] and are encouraging for other judges."

In earlier convictions dating back to October 2007, Sisli criminal courts sentenced Muhammet Karay to three years and three months imprisonment for threatening Agos employees and Armenians via email. Zafer Filiz and Ridvan Dogan, who had sent threats to Agos after the assassination of Hrant Dink, received suspended prison terms of three and two years, respectively. Mr. Dogan, 19, who showed remorse and was deemed unlikely to reoffend, was placed on two years' probation.