Journalist Ozan Kaplanoğlu imprisoned 12 years later for 'insulting the prime minister'!

Ozan Kaplanoğlu, Editor-in-Chief of the Bursa Muhalif newspaper, has been sent to prison 12 years after a case was filed against him on charges of 'insulting' the then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Kaplanoğlu, whose conditional release decision was revoked as part of the case, was imprisoned on February 5.

According to the report in Bursa Muhalif, a lawsuit was filed against Ozan Kaplanoğlu for 'insulting a public official' during the protests directed at then-Prime Minister Erdoğan in 2013. 

As a result of the lawsuit, a conviction was handed down against Ozan Kaplanoğlu. Due to the revocation of his conditional release, Kaplanoğlu was arrested on February 5 to serve his remaining 5.5-month sentence and was sent to the Bursa E-Type Closed Prison.

One of Kaplanoğlu’s lawyers, Kemal Özgür Yetkin, provided information regarding the prison conditions. Yetkin stated the following: 

"My client, Ozan Kaplanoğlu, has been punished for an offense that should be evaluated within the scope of freedom of thought and expression. The prison where he is currently held is well over its capacity. The physical conditions are not designed to accommodate such a high number of detainees and convicts."