Konar, the Elazığ correspondent for Azadiya Welat, Turkey’s sole Kurdish-language daily, was serving a term of seven years and six months at Malatya E Type Prison on charges of being a member of the banned Union of Communities in Kurdistan, or KCK, of which the Kurdistan Workers Party is part.
In a January 2012 letter published by the independent news portal Bianet, Konar said his published news reporting and his interactions with colleagues were cited as evidence of criminality. Authorities also cited his visits to his jailed brother as evidence that he was a prison liaison for the KCK, he said.