A Turkish court on Thursday acquits an Istanbul-based British academic who faced up to five years in prison on charges of distributing “terror propaganda” on behalf outlawed Kurdish militants.
The Istanbul court acquits Chris Stephenson, who teaches computer science at Bilgi University in Istanbul, at the first hearing, Turkish television reports say. Stephenson confirms on his Twitter feed that he had been found not guilty, writing simply “And acquittal.”
Stephenson was briefly arrested in mid March while protesting outside the city’s main courthouse over the detention of four Turkish academics who had been tried on similar charges.
Prosecutors had asked for Stephenson to be given a jail sentence of between one and five years on charges of “making propaganda for a terror organization,” in reference to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
The academic, who has been based in the country for 25 years, has ridiculed the charges, saying he was only carrying invitation leaflets for the Kurdish New Year celebrations later in the month.
— AFP
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