European court says Turkey violated journalist’s rights

By SUZAN FRASER
Associated Press

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that Turkey violated the rights of German-Turkish journalist Deniz Yucel, who was jailed in Turkey for a year and later convicted of engaging in propaganda in favor of Kurdish rebels. The court ruled on Tuesday that the pre-trial detention of the reporter for Germany’s Die Welt newspaper amounted to a violation of his right to liberty and security as well as his right to freedom of expression. It also ruled that the journalist had not been adequately compensated for his unlawful detention. Yucel welcomed the decision but expressed disappointment that the court did not acknowledge that the case was politically motivated and that his detention amounted to ill-treatment.