Kimran was editor of the leftist weekly Iscinin Yolu, which was subject to repeated government harassment during his tenure.
According to court documents, police apprehended Kimran on a bus during a police operation in advance of the anniversary of the outlawed Marxist-Leninist Communist Party (MLKP). He was charged under Article 168 of the Penal Code for his alleged membership in the MLKP. During his trial, the prosecution charged that Kimran was a leader of the MLKP. The charge was based on the statement of an alleged MLKP sympathizer, who said that Kimran had ordered the bombing of a city bus. Kimran was also caught with a counterfeit I.D., which he claimed to carry because of his fear of being detained in the course of his journalistic work.
The prosecution stated that police who searched Kimran’s apartment found documents in his handwriting that demonstrated his affiliation with the MLKP.
Kimran’s lawyer told CPJ that the journalist was also charged under articles 7 (engaging in propaganda for an outlawed organization) and 8 (disseminating separatist propaganda) of the Anti-Terror Law.
Staffers from the socialist weekly Atilim said these charges were based on news articles that appeared in Iscinin Yolu during Kimran’s tenure. The Penal Code case was prosecuted, but the Anti-Terror Law cases were eventually suspended following the government’s so-called amnesty for jailed editors, on August 14, 1997.
As of December 2000, Kimran was being held in Kandira Prison.