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Turkish Court Sentences Germany-based Journalist to Jail on Terror Charges

Soldiers holding guns walk near the Turkey's Pazarkule border crossing, in Kastanies, Greece March 4, 2020. REUTERS/Florion Goga
Soldiers holding guns walk near the Turkey's Pazarkule border crossing, in Kastanies, Greece March 4, 2020. REUTERS/Florion Goga
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Turkish Court Sentences Germany-based Journalist to Jail on Terror Charges

Soldiers holding guns walk near the Turkey's Pazarkule border crossing, in Kastanies, Greece March 4, 2020. REUTERS/Florion Goga
Soldiers holding guns walk near the Turkey's Pazarkule border crossing, in Kastanies, Greece March 4, 2020. REUTERS/Florion Goga

A Turkish court on Thursday sentenced German-Turkish journalist Deniz Yucel in absentia to 2 years and 9 months to jail for terrorism propaganda, state-owned Anadolu agency said, in a case that had strained ties between Ankara and Berlin.

Yucel was released from custody in February 2018, after being kept in jail for a year without an indictment. He returned to Berlin right after his release. Yucel denies the charges against him.

He was accused of spreading propaganda in support of both Fethullah Gulen, who is accused by Ankara of plotting the 2016 failed coup, and also of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has waged an insurgency in southeast Turkey since the 1980s.

He was also charged with inciting public enmity.

Yucel's arrest led to protracted row between Turkey and Germany, two NATO allies. Shortly after his arrest, Berlin banned Turkish ministers from speaking to rallies of expatriate Turks, while President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called Yucel a terrorist agent and Ankara accused Germany of supporting Gulen's network.

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Iran Ministry Protests over Arrests in US of its Nationals

The Iranian flag waves in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters, before the beginning of a board of governors meeting, in Vienna, Austria, March 1, 2021. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner The Iranian flag waves in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters, before the beginning of a board of governors meeting, in Vienna, Austria, March 1, 2021. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner
The Iranian flag waves in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters, before the beginning of a board of governors meeting, in Vienna, Austria, March 1, 2021. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner The Iranian flag waves in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters, before the beginning of a board of governors meeting, in Vienna, Austria, March 1, 2021. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner
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Iran Ministry Protests over Arrests in US of its Nationals

The Iranian flag waves in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters, before the beginning of a board of governors meeting, in Vienna, Austria, March 1, 2021. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner The Iranian flag waves in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters, before the beginning of a board of governors meeting, in Vienna, Austria, March 1, 2021. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner
The Iranian flag waves in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters, before the beginning of a board of governors meeting, in Vienna, Austria, March 1, 2021. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner The Iranian flag waves in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters, before the beginning of a board of governors meeting, in Vienna, Austria, March 1, 2021. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner

Iran has summoned the Swiss ambassador in Tehran, who represents US interests in the country, and a senior Italian diplomat over the arrest by the US of two Iranian nationals this week, Iranian media reported on Saturday.

US prosecutors charged the two men on Monday with illegally exporting sensitive technology to Iran that they said was used in a January drone attack in Jordan that killed three US service members, Reuters reported.

The US blamed Iran-backed militants for the attack. Iran said at the time it was not involved.

Federal prosecutors in Boston identified the men as Mohammad Abedini, the co-founder of an Iranian-based company, and Mahdi Sadeghi, an employee of Massachusetts-based semiconductor manufacturer Analog Devices.

Abedini, a resident of both Switzerland and Iran, was arrested in Italy at the request of the US government. Sadeghi, an Iranian-born naturalized US citizen, lives in Natick, Massachusetts.

“We consider these arrests in violation of international law,” Iranian media quoted the foreign ministry as saying, adding that the Swiss ambassador and the Italian charge d'affaires were asked to pass on Iran’s protest.