A Turkish court handed a suspended prison sentence of one year and eight months to a Deutsche Welle journalist, the German broadcaster said on Saturday. 

DW is appealing the verdict against Bülent Mumay, the coordinator of the broadcaster's office in Istanbul.

What is the case against Mumay?

The Istanbul criminal court issued the sentence against Mumay on Friday for "spreading personal data" in a case brought forward by construction company Met-Gun Insaat. 

The judge said Mumay posted information on his Twitter account in 2020 in violation of a court order. 

Mumay had shared information about Met-Gun Insaat's links to the Istanbul Metropolitan Government's confiscated subway loans, which the company had sought to keep secret.

"I have been sentenced to one year and eight months of suspended imprisonment for not submitting to Met-Gün Insaat censorship," Mumay said. "Because I defied the censorship, I was sued.

"Those who are not ashamed to confiscate the people's money are now trying to imprison those who make this public," he added.

A sign of the judiciary's 'politicization'

DW Editor-in-Chief Manuela Kasper-Claridge criticized Mumay's conviction, saying it was an attempt to silence the journalist. 

"The sentence against our employee is once again a sign of the politicization of the judiciary in Turkey," she said.  

"Critical and independent journalism is to be muzzled. This is highly worrying. We as Deutsche Welle condemn the imposed prison sentence and will support Bülent Mumay with all legal means." 

fb/sms (DW)