Turkish Journalist Sentenced To Prison Over Paradise Papers’ Investigation

Turkish journalist Pelin Ünker has been sentenced to jail over the Paradise Papers investigation after being found to have defamed her nation’s former prime minister and two of his sons.

An Istanbul court sentenced the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists’ member to imprisonment for 13 months for “defamation and insult.”

Ünker, who reported that former prime minister Binali Yildirim and his sons owned companies in Malta in the Turkish newspaper Cumhuriyet, was also fined $US1615.

Prime minister from May 2016 to July 2018, Yildirim became speaker of Turkey’s Grand National Assembly after the post of Prime Minister was abolished.

One of Ünker’s lawyers, Tora Pekin, defended the journalist’s work after the ruling, telling local reporters it was both accurate and in the public interest.

Her legal team said the complaint against the now freelance reporter was doubly unfair because it also encompassed pieces not written by her.

“[Paradise Papers] were reported as news all across the world but the only one who is being tried for that is Pelin Ünker,” Pekin reportedly said.

“In a democratic society, the press has an indispensable duty. It is obliged to reveal all the documents that interest the public. Pelin did this.

“Founding a company in a tax haven… The story is all about this. They did not deny this in the petition of complaint… The people have the right to read the Paradise Papers.” Read more

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Turkish Journalist Sentenced To Prison Over Paradise Papers’ Investigation

Turkish journalist Pelin Ünker has been sentenced to jail over the Paradise Papers investigation after being found to have defamed her nation’s former prime minister and two of his sons.

Turkish Journalist Sentenced To Prison Over Paradise Papers’ Investigation

Turkish journalist Pelin Ünker has been sentenced to jail over the Paradise Papers investigation after being found to have defamed her nation’s former prime minister and two of his sons.