Turkey court sentences German-Turkish journalist Yucel to jail

A Turkish court has handed down a prison sentence in absentia to German-Turkish journalist Deniz Yucel for terrorism propaganda, his lawyer said, in a case that has strained ties between Ankara and Berlin, Al Jazeera reports.

The court convicted Yucel on Thursday and sentenced him to two years and nine months in jail for spreading propaganda for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), lawyer Veysel Ok said, adding he will appeal against the decision.

Yucel, who has denied the charges against him, returned to Berlin in February 2018 when he was released from custody after being kept in jail for a year without indictment.

The court ruled he was not guilty of sedition or of spreading propaganda for the network of Fethullah Gulen, a US-based religious leader accused by Ankara of plotting a failed coup in 2016.

The court also decided to file two separate criminal lawsuits against Yucel at the Istanbul chief prosecutor's office for insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the Turkish state.