Afyon - A Turkish court yesterday sentenced six policemen to more than seven years in jail for beating a journalist to death.
Mr Metin Goktepe (32) died of a brain haemorrhage after sustaining repeated truncheon blows to the head while in police custody in Istanbul in 1996. Some 1,000 observers heard the verdict at the courtroom in the Aegean town of Afyon, where the trial was moved for security reasons. Meanwhile, Turkish troops backed by helicopters and fighter aircraft have killed 30 Kurdish rebels loyal to the jailed guerrilla leader, Mr Abdullah Ocalan, military officials said yesterday.