The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ordered Turkey on Tuesday to compensate the owner of a Kurdish newspaper that was shut down in 2016, after finding that criminal proceedings had been “systematically opened” against it, Reuters reported.

The closure of daily Ozgur Gundem, for what the Turkish court that ordered it said was spreading propaganda in favor of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), came shortly after the abortive coup in Turkey in July 2016.

The paper, which focused on the conflict between Kurdish militants and Turkish security forces in the country’s mainly Kurdish southeast, has faced dozens of investigations, fines and the arrest of its correspondents since 2014.

In its ruling published on Tuesday, the ECHR said criminal proceedings against the paper had been “systematically opened, regardless of the actual content of the articles”.

The ECHR said the lawsuits had led the paper’s owner Ali Gurbuz to self-censor for fear of conviction and ordered the Turkish government to pay him 3,500 euros ($3,950).

Turkey has the right to appeal the ruling.