ISTANBUL: A Turkish scientist was sentenced to 15 months in prison on Thursday for revealing the cancer risks posed by toxic pollution in western Turkey.
The court in Istanbul found Dr. Bulent Sik guilty of “disclosing classified information” — a verdict described as a “travesty of justice” by Amnesty International.
Dr. Sik last year revealed the results of a study carried out with other scientists for the Ministry of Health between 2011 and 2015 linking the toxicity in soil, water and food to high rates of cancer in several western provinces.
He wrote the articles for newspaper Cumhuriyet after realizing the government was not acting on the study’s findings.
The study “clearly revealed the extent to which water resources were contiminated by toxic materials,” Dr. Sik told reporters after the verdict.
“The court ruling shows that the results of a study that directly concerns public health can be hidden. This is unacceptable,” he added.
Dr. Sik remained free on Thursday pending appeal.
Rights groups and environmentalists accuse the government of failing to enforce environmental regulations amid a rapid industrial boom in many parts of the country.
Pollution from the industrial zone of Dilovasi, around 80 kilometers from Istanbul and home to many chemical and metallurgy factories, was singled out in the report for having cancer rates well above the international average.
“The case against Bulent Sik has been, from the start, a travesty of justice,” Amnesty’s Turkey researcher Andrew Gardner told AFP.
“Instead of pursuing a whistleblower through the court, the Turkish authorities should be investigating this important public health issue.”
Amnesty said it would consider Dr. Sik a prisoner of conscience if he was jailed.
Turkey has seen a wide-ranging crackdown on many aspects of free speech, especially since a failed coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 2016.
Dr. Sik had faced up to 12 years in prison, but the court found him not guilty of “obtaining classified information.”
Turkey doctor gets 15 months for revealing pollution cancer risk
Turkey doctor gets 15 months for revealing pollution cancer risk
- The court in Istanbul found Dr. Bulent Sik guilty of “disclosing classified information” — a verdict described as a “travesty of justice” by Amnesty International
- Dr. Sik last year revealed the results of a study carried out with other scientists for the Ministry of Health between 2011 and 2015 linking the toxicity in soil
Jordan condemns US ambassador remarks on accepting Israel’s West Bank annexation
- The Jordanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it rejects the ambassador’s “absurd and provocative statements”
CAIRO: Jordan condemned Saturday earlier remarks by US envoy to Israel Mike Huckabee, who said it would be acceptable if Israel took control of the entire Middle East, including the West Bank.
Huckabee has suggested that he would not object if Israel were to take most of the Middle East.
The Jordanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it rejects the ambassador’s “absurd and provocative statements,” in a statement published on Petra News Agency.
Ministry spokesman Fouad Majali said the remarks “constitute a violation of diplomatic norms, an infringement on the sovereignty of the region's countries, a blatant breach of international law and the UN Charter.”
Majali also said they contradict diplomatic efforts by the United States and the declared position of US President Donald Trump in rejecting the annexation of the occupied West Bank.
The spokesperson reaffirmed that the West Bank, including East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip are occupied Palestinian territories under international law, and that ending Israel’s occupation is a must for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on all of the occupied Palestinian territory, based on the two-state solution.
