(BIANET/IFEX) – A 19-year old man has been given a two-year suspended sentence for sending an e-mail threat to the “Agos” newspaper. A court in Sisli, central Istanbul, imposed the sentence on Ridvan Dogan, who sent a threatening e-mail to the “Agos” newspaper after the murder of its editor Hrant Dink, with a two-year suspended […]
(BIANET/IFEX) – A 19-year old man has been given a two-year suspended sentence for sending an e-mail threat to the “Agos” newspaper.
A court in Sisli, central Istanbul, imposed the sentence on Ridvan Dogan, who sent a threatening e-mail to the “Agos” newspaper after the murder of its editor Hrant Dink, with a two-year suspended sentence.
The court took into account the fact that the high-school student had no police record, had expressed his regrets and had convinced the court that he would not commit any other crimes. He will be supervised for two years.
Dogan has claimed that he sent an e-mail message that he received directly to the “Agos” newspaper without reading it: “On that day, an e-mail entitled ‘Apologise to the Turks’ came. Without reading it, I sent it to the address that was given. I learnt the contents of the e-mail after the event happened. I regret it. If I had not been in prison, I would be in school now. I want to continue with school. I have learned my lesson.”
In his statement, he apologised to the newspaper. While “Agos” lawyers welcomed the expressions of regret, they added that they found it hard to believe that a high-school student forwarded an e-mail without reading it. They added that some employees of “Agos” had to leave their jobs because of this and similar threats.
