Latest news with #MLSA
Malay Mail
5 days ago
- Politics
- Malay Mail
Istanbul mayor Imamoglu's trial adjourned as prosecutors seek jail, political ban ahead of 2028 Erdogan election challenge
ISTANBUL, June 16 — Istanbul's jailed mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, the leading opponent of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, appeared in court today on charges of threatening the city's public prosecutor. The case is one of a number of investigations targeting Imamoglu, but is not connected to the graft probe that led to his arrest in March, which sparked Turkiye's worst street protests in over a decade. Imamoglu, 54, is on trial over remarks he made, allegedly questioning the integrity of Istanbul's chief public prosecutor, Akin Gurlek. He faces charges of 'threatening' and 'insulting a public official' and 'targeting' an individual involved in counter-terror efforts, according to MLSA, the Turkish rights group whose lawyers are defending him. Today's hearing, which took place at Silivri prison on the western outskirts of Istanbul where Imamoglu has been held since March, was very brief with the judge adjourning the proceedings until July 16, MLSA said on X. The prosecutor called for Imamoglu to face up to seven years and four months behind bars, with a minimum jail term, and be subjected to a political ban, the BirGun online news site reported. It said CHP head Ozgur Ozel and other party members were also at the hearing to support the mayor. 'A state governed by the rule of law should be based on justice. No citizen should be afraid while seeking justice. A person should feel threatened not when they express their opinion but when they are forced to remain silent,' Imamoglu told the court in a transcript of his remarks published by BirGun. 'I am not the one on trial here today; every opposition stance that the government does not like, every democratic gain and the will of the people are being tried here today,' he said. 'Freedom of expression' A first hearing took place in Silivri on April 11 when the mayor denied all the allegations and said he had been 'targeted' because of his plans to challenge Erdogan in the 2028 presidential election, his remarks reported by Turkish media. Questioned by the prosecutor in January, he said he was simply exercising his right to free speech. 'There was no threat or targeting in my words. What I said was freedom of expression... (which) is a constitutional right... (that) includes the right to criticise judicial authorities and the way they function,' he said. Last Thursday, Imamoglu was also summoned to the first hearing in another case regarding remarks he made about a court-appointed expert witness involved in cases against municipalities run by his Republican People's Party (CHP), in which he is accused of attempting to influence a fair trial. His office said he and his legal team boycotted that hearing because it was 'unlawfully moved to Silivri' rather than taking place at a court in the city centre. Imamoglu, who was elected Istanbul mayor in 2019 and re-elected in 2024, was arrested on March 19 in connection with a graft probe and allegations of terror ties. The string of charges against him could prevent him taking part in the 2028 presidential race. His arrest sparked demonstrations across the country in the worst street unrest since the 2013 Gezi Park protests, which spread across Turkiye and were brutally suppressed by police. — AFP
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Istanbul mayor on trial for 'threatening' prosecutor
Istanbul's jailed mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, the leading opponent of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, appeared in court Monday on charges of threatening the city's public prosecutor. The case is one of a number of investigations targeting Imamoglu, but is not connected to the graft probe that led to his arrest in March, which sparked Turkey's worst street protests in over a decade. Imamoglu, 54, is on trial over remarks he made, allegedly questioning the integrity of Istanbul's chief public prosecutor, Akin Gurlek. He faces charges of "threatening" and "insulting a public official" and "targeting" an individual involved in counter-terror efforts, according to MLSA, the Turkish rights group whose lawyers are defending him. Monday's hearing, which took place at Silivri prison on the western outskirts of Istanbul where Imamoglu has been held since March, was very brief with the judge adjourning the proceedings until July 16, MLSA said on X. The prosecutor called for Imamoglu to face up to seven years and four months behind bars, with a minimum jail term, and be subjected to a political ban, the BirGun online news site reported. It said CHP head Ozgur Ozel and other party members were also at the hearing to support the mayor. "A state governed by the rule of law should be based on justice. No citizen should be afraid while seeking justice. A person should feel threatened not when they express their opinion but when they are forced to remain silent," Imamoglu told the court in a transcript of his remarks published by BirGun. "I am not the one on trial here today; every opposition stance that the government does not like, every democratic gain and the will of the people are being tried here today," he said. - 'Freedom of expression' - A first hearing took place in Silivri on April 11 when the mayor denied all the allegations and said he had been "targeted" because of his plans to challenge Erdogan in the 2028 presidential election, his remarks reported by Turkish media. Questioned by the prosecutor in January, he said he was simply exercising his right to free speech. "There was no threat or targeting in my words. What I said was freedom of expression.. (which) is a constitutional right... (that) includes the right to criticise judicial authorities and the way they function," he said. Last Thursday, Imamoglu was also summoned to the first hearing in another case regarding remarks he made about a court-appointed expert witness involved in cases against municipalities run by his Republican People's Party (CHP), in which he is accused of attempting to influence a fair trial. His office said he and his legal team boycotted that hearing because it was "unlawfully moved to Silivri" rather than taking place at a court in the city centre. Imamoglu, who was elected Istanbul mayor in 2019 and re-elected in 2024, was arrested on March 19 in connection with a graft probe and allegations of terror ties. The string of charges against him could prevent him taking part in the 2028 presidential race. His arrest sparked demonstrations across the country in the worst street unrest since the 2013 Gezi Park protests, which spread across Turkey and were brutally suppressed by police. rba/fo-hmw/yad
India.com
17-05-2025
- Business
- India.com
Meet Gyani Kumari who has bagged a record breaking job offer, not from IIT, IIM, VIT, IIIT, she is from...
Meet Gyani Kumari who has bagged a record breaking job offer, not from IIT, IIM, VIT, IIIT, she is from... Gyani Kumari, a resident of Gaya district, has brought laurels to the entire state by getting a job as a software engineer in Google, one of the world's largest tech companies. She has been working in Google's Hyderabad office since July 2024. Earlier, she has also been associated with a giant company like Microsoft. Gyani's education began from Anugrah Narayan (AN) College in Patna, where he scored 91.6% marks in the 12th examination. After this, he completed (2020–2024 batch) in Computer Science and Engineering from National Institute of Technology (NIT), Patna. Before getting a job at Google, Gyani also did a three-month internship there, which was in hybrid mode. During this time he worked in the metering team of Google Cloud, where his main task was to measure how much storage customers were using. During the internship, she developed a way to accurately measure the storage used through a batch processing pipeline. During this time, she used advanced technical tools like C++, OOPS, Protocol Buffers, and Unit Testing. Before Google, Gyani proved her abilities on many other platforms. She was also a part of the Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors Program. She was an Alpha MLSA from January 2022 to March 2022. From March 2022 to June 2023, she was active as a Beta MLSA. During this time, she conducted workshops, training programs and guided students in the technical community. Gyani started her career as a Problem Setter in a company called iMocha. It was a freelance and remote job, where she worked from June 2022 to May 2023. Her job was to prepare questions related to data structure, algorithms and competitive programming. The secret of Gyani's success was not just her studies, but also his technical skillset. Along with studies, he made himself proficient in many programming languages and tools. Her major technical skills include C++, Java, Python, SQL, MySQL, OOPS, Data Structures & Algorithms, Competitive Programming. Gyani has got a job in Google with a package of lakhs of rupees per annum, which is a proof of her hard work and technical understanding. Getting a role of this level in a tier-1 company is a big achievement in itself. Gyani Kumari's success story is an inspiration for all those youth, especially students coming from villages, towns and small cities, who dream big and have the courage to fulfill them. She has proved that with dedication, hard work and efforts in the right direction, any position can be achieved.
Belfast Telegraph
30-04-2025
- Politics
- Belfast Telegraph
Swedish journalist handed suspended prison term in Turkey for insulting 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 newspaper Dagens ETC, was detained on March 27 as he arrived at Istanbul airport. We need your consent to load this Social Media content. We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review your details and accept them to load the content He arrived in the city to cover last month's nationwide protests that erupted following the arrest of Istanbul's popular mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu. The journalist was jailed days later on charges of insulting Erdogan and membership of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK. No trial date has been set for his second trial, where he could face a maximum sentence of nine years in prison. Medin, who is being held in Istanbul's high-security Marmara Prison, joined Wednesday's 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' Office into a rally in Stockholm on January 11 2023, which was attended by supporters of the PKK and included an effigy of Erdogan hanging by his feet. According to the Turkish Presidency's communications department, the prosecutors' office identified 15 suspects, including Medin, who had organised, 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. 'The indictment begins with a protest I did not attend and includes (social media) posts I did not share,' the MLSA cited Medin as telling the court. 'On January 11 2023, a small group of activists held a protest in front of the city hall, hanging an effigy of Erdogan upside down,' the journalist continued. 'I wasn't there — I was working in Germany at the time. I had no knowledge of this protest and made no social media posts about it.' The PKK has waged a 40-year insurgency in Turkey, which has cost tens of thousands of lives and is designated a terrorist organisation by Ankara and its Western allies. A peace initiative between the Turkish state and the PKK was initiated in October, and the organisation declared a ceasefire at the beginning of March upon a call to do so by its imprisoned leader, Abdullah Ocalan.
The Guardian
30-04-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Swedish journalist sentenced in Turkey for ‘insulting Erdoğan'
A Turkish court has handed a Swedish journalist an 11-month suspended sentence for insulting the president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, but he remains behind bars awaiting trial on a second more serious charge. Joakim Medin, who works for the Swedish newspaper Dagens ETC, was detained at Istanbul airport on 27 March when he flew in to cover the mass protests gripping Turkey. He was arrested on two separate charges: insulting the president and belonging to a terror organisation, and jailed a day later at Silivri prison in Istanbul. After handing Medin the suspended sentence, the judge ordered his release, according to the correspondent and MLSA, the Turkish rights group defending him. But because of the second charge he is facing – for which a trial date has not yet been set – Medin will remain behind bars. Prosecutors say Medin attended a protest in Stockholm in January 2023 where protesters strung up an effigy of Erdoğan. That effigy reappeared months later, holding an LGBTQ flag on a Kurdish activists' float at Stockholm's Pride parade. According to the indictment, which Medin said he had not seen, the offending images were used to illustrate several of his articles that he had posted online. Addressing the court via video link from Silivri prison, Medin said he had not been even in Sweden at the time of January rally. Although he posted links to articles he had written about Sweden's Nato accession – which was initially blocked by Turkey – he said he was not responsible for the photo selection. 'I was not at this event, I was in Germany for work. I didn't know about plans for his event, and I didn't share any photo or video about it on social media,' Medin told the court via video link. 'I did not insult the president. I was assigned to write the article. The photo was selected by editors, I was just doing my job,' he said, asking to be released so he could return to his wife, who is seven months pregnant with their first child. His lawyer, Veysel Ok, urged the court to acquit him. 'Medin has no motivation to knowingly and willingly insult the president. The Nato process was vital for Sweden because a Russian attack was on the agenda; my client reported on this process,' Ok told the court. Sign up to This is Europe The most pressing stories and debates for Europeans – from identity to economics to the environment after newsletter promotion 'He has nothing to do with the photos; he just shared the news. I demand my client's acquittal,' the lawyer added. Many people, from teenagers to journalists and even a former Miss Turkey, have been charged with insulting the president, an offence often used to muffle dissent. Because of the second charge against him, Medin will remain in prison until a trial date is set. 'It's undemocratic he was convicted in this first case and we deeply regret that the decision to free him isn't enough to ensure his release today because of the second case,' said Erol Önderoğlu from Reporters Without Borders. 'We urge the Turkish authorities to release the journalist, to quickly set a date for the second trial and drop the charges,' he said. The charge of belonging to a terror organisation is much more serious. If convicted, Medin could face up to nine years in prison. He denies the charges.
