Young man caught stealing copies of daily Zaman

A young man was caught red-handed in İstanbul on Saturday while stealing Zaman newspapers left by distributors in subscribers' mail boxes.

The man, who claimed to be the son of the Justice and Development Party's (AK Party) Beylikdüzü provincial chairman, said he stole the newspapers for nearly one month in order to stop the subscribers from reading the newspapers. The theft and some following moments were recorded with a camera by one of the subscribers.

In the video footage, the young man is seen stealing three Zaman newspapers placed in the mail boxes of an apartment building. When asked by the subscriber who was filming why he was stealing the newspapers, the thief said his father was the AK Party's Beylikdüzü provincial chairman and that his father had initiated the campaign against Zaman because it is defaming the party.

“I know it is a crime. I will go to jail if necessary. We take [steal] Zaman newspapers wherever we see them,” the young man said.

The office of the Beylikdüzü provincial chairman of the AK Party did not respond to our requests for a comment.

Published on Sunday's Zaman, 02 February 2014, Sunday