- Zehra Doğan with Painting
By Chioma Obinagwam with Agency report
Zehra Doğan, an artist and journalist for the now-closed a Kurdish news agency (JİNHA), was released on Sunday after two years, nine months and 22 days in prison
Doğan was convicted of disseminating “terrorist propaganda” in social media posts and news stories.
Her reports covered curfews in Turkey’s Southeast imposed during a military offensive against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) as well as the occupation by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) of Kurdish-populated towns in northern Syria.
In March 2018 famous British street artist Banksy portrayed Doğan and her drawings on a mural in New York City.
Doğan was one of the founders of JİNHA, Turkey’s first women’s news agency, which was shut down by a government decree in 2016.
According to Turkish media outlets, she was released due to the completion of her sentence.
In June 2018 the Washington-based International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF) gave a Courage in Journalism award to Doğan.
(Turkish Minute)
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