Journalist jailed under ‘disinformation’ law

A Turkish court sentenced a journalist to 10 months in prison Tuesday for spreading disinformation, handing down the first jail term under a new law that critics say threatens free speech.

The court’s decision comes four months after parliament passed a “disinformation law” that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling AK Party said would protect the public against the spread of false or misleading information.

Sinan Aygul, a journalist in eastern Turkey’s Bitlis province, was detained early in December after he wrote on Twitter that a 14-year-old girl had allegedly been sexually abused by men including police officers and soldiers.

He retracted the posts and apologized for writing them without confirming the story with authorities but was later arrested.

On Tuesday, a local court sentenced Aygul to 10 months in prison, ruling that he had disseminated misleading information that could lead to fear and panic among the public, according to a court document.