CPJ first reported this case in March 1996, stating that Çoskun, Elazig bureau chief of the leftist monthly Partizan Sesi, was arrested and charged with being a member of an outlawed organization and was being held in Elazig Prison. Çoskun was said to have been convicted under Article 168 of the Penal Code for membership in an outlawed organization and was sentenced to prison.
Çoskun’s lawyer told CPJ that his client had been convicted of membership in the Marxist-Leninist Communist Party and was in Bursa Prison. According to the lawyer, Çoskun was accused of distributing copies of Partizan Sesi, which the prosecution deemed as evidence of his membership in the organization.
CPJ read court documents stating that Çoskun had been detained on May 25, 1994, and accused of membership in the outlawed Marxist-Leninist Communist Party under Article 168/2 of the Penal Code and formally arrested on June 3, 1994. The documents indicated that the State Security Court dropped the charge on June 16, 1994, and instead charged him under Article 7/2 of the Anti-Terror Law (propagandizing on behalf of an outlawed organization). Çoskun was said to have been convicted of the Article 7/2 charge on an unspecified date, sentenced to 10 months in prison, and fined 333 million TL. He was released prior to the expiration of his term on October 25, 1994, according to the documents.
In the fall of 1997, Çoskun’s lawyer told CPJ that his client was in prison. CPJ is attempting to determine if he was in fact released on October 25, 1994, or if he was released and subsequently arrested and imprisoned on an additional charge or charges.