ANKARA, Turkey (AP) 鈥 A Turkish court on Wednesday convicted a Swedish journalist of insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Joakim Medin was given an 11-month suspended prison term, a media rights group said, but he remains in custody awaiting the outcome of a separate trial on terrorism-related charges.
Medin, a journalist with the daily Dagens ETC, was detained March 27 as he arrived at Istanbul airport to cover last month鈥檚 nationwide protests that erupted following the arrest of Istanbul鈥檚 popular mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu. The journalist was jailed days later on charges of insulting Erdogan and membership of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers鈥 Party, or PKK.
No trial date has been set for his second trial, where he could face maximum nine years in prison.
Medin, who is being held in Istanbul鈥檚 high-security Marmara Prison, joined Wednesday鈥檚 hearing in the capital Ankara via a video conference system.
The charges against him were based on an investigation launched by the Ankara Public Prosecutors鈥 Office into a rally in Stockholm on Jan. 11, 2023, that was attended by supporters of the PKK, and included an effigy of Erdogan hanging by his feet.
According to the Turkish Presidency鈥檚 Communications Department, the prosecutors鈥 office identified 15 suspects, including Medin, who had organized, participated or covered the event. It said Medin also allegedly facilitated communication between the PKK and media outlets.
During the opening hearing, Medin reported multiple violations of his basic rights during the initial stages of his detention, including the right to access to a translator, to a lawyer and consular services, according to the Media and Law Studies Association, or MLSA, which observed the proceeding.
He denied that he was present at the rally.
鈥淭he indictment begins with a protest I did not attend and includes (social media) posts I did not share,鈥 the MLSA cited Medin as telling the court.
鈥淥n Jan. 11, 2023, a small group of activists held a protest in front of the city hall, hanging an effigy of Erdogan upside down,鈥 the journalist continued. 鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 there 鈥 I was working in Germany at the time. I had no knowledge of this protest and made no social media posts about it.鈥
In Sweden, Medin鈥檚 wife, Sofie Axelsson, expressed relief over the suspended sentence but also described the trial as 鈥渧ery strange,鈥 according to Dagens ETC.
Its chief editor, Andreas Gustavsson, said the outcome of the trial was 鈥渁bsurd鈥 but also a 鈥渧ictory鈥 that would allow the journalist 鈥渢o come home to us and to his wife Sofie Axelsson faster.鈥
The PKK has waged a 40-year insurgency in Turkey which has cost tens of thousands of lives and is designated a terrorist organization by Ankara and its Western allies.
A peace initiative between the Turkish state and the PKK was initiated in October, and the organization declared a ceasefire at the beginning of March upon a call to do so by its imprisoned leader Abdullah Ocalan.
