Turkish police detain CEO of private TV channel in Bayburt

ISTANBUL (A.A) - July 6 ,2011 - Turkish police detained on Wednesday the CEO of a private TV channel in the northeastern province of Bayburt within the scope of a German charity investigation.
Police has took into custody Kanal 7's Executive Board Chairman Zekeriya Karaman in Bayburt within the framework of German "Deniz Feneri e.V." charity investigation.
Earlier on Wednesday, police detained Supreme Board of Radio and Television (RTUK) member Zahid Akman, who was the former chairman of the board, in Ankara, and Kanal 7 editor-in-chief Mustafa Celik, Kanal 7's deputy director general Ismail Karahan and financial director Erdogan Kara in Istanbul.
In September 2008, a German court convicted three Turks of fraud for drawing off donations and using them for other purposes outside charity.
The Frankfurt State Court sentenced the three men working for the charity Deniz Feneri e.V in Germany to prison terms.
The court sentenced Mehmet Gurhan to 5 years and 10 months, Mehmet Taskan to 2 years and 9 months in prison. Firdevsi Ermis was sentenced to one year and 10 months in prison, which was suspended on probation.
Court judge Johann Muller had said after the trial that Deniz Feneri e.V. had received a total of 41 million euros of donations over last five years in Germany and 17 million euros of that had been sent to Turkey.
The prosecution had said they had reason to believe that Zahid Akman was responsible for some of the crimes. The prosecutor had also said Zekeriya Karaman, a founding member of Deniz Feneri and CEO of the Kanal 7 TV, was the mastermind behind the crimes.