IPI condemn Turkey for treatment of journalists
IPI condemn Turkey for treatment of journalists
On World Press Freedom Day, the International Press Institute (IPS) underlined how Turkey, where dozens of journalists are in prison, was the worst example of the European trend to limit freedom of the press. The journalists were arrested over their alleged affiliation with terrorist organizations, according to IPI’s Turkish National Committee.
As late as December, Emine Demir, the former editorial manager of Kurdish newspaper Azadiya Welat, was sentenced to 138 years in prison over articles that she accepted for publication in the newspaper. The 24-year-old was found guilty of spreading propaganda for the outlawed PKK, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party.
In April, another IPI statement called attention to Vedat Kurþun, former editor of Azadiya Welat, who was sentenced by a Turkish court to three years in prison in connection with two articles deemed to have spread propaganda for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, PKK – which is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey, the European Union, the United States and many other countries.
Kurþun had already served 13 months in jail while awaiting his trial, after being arrested in Istanbul in January 2009 as he arrived in the city to testify in another case.
Also in December, authorities arrested two journalists working for the Renge Heviya Jine magazine. On December 5, authorities arrested the former editor-in-chief of the magazine, Berivan Eker, as she was on her way to a meeting with her lawyer.
According to information from IPI’s National Committee in Turkey, Eker was under investigation for “spreading propaganda for an illegal organization" and, based on two articles she wrote in June and July of 2010, on separate charges of "committing a crime on behalf of an illegal organization". The investigations were later merged.
According to the recently-founded Freedom for Journalists Platform (FJP), of which IPI’s Turkish National Committee is a member, the magazine's former editor- in-chief, Gurbet Çakar, had earlier been arrested by the Public Prosecution of Diyarbakýr, a Kurdish-majority province in south-eastern Turkey. The prosecutor was demanding a prison term of up to 20 years for Çakar on charges of "spreading propaganda for an illegal organization via the media" and "membership of the PKK".
Renge Heviya Jine is the only magazine for women in Turkey publishing in both Kurdish and Turkish. The first editor-in-chief of the magazine, Sultan Sonsuz, has been indicted under charges of “propaganda” in five different cases. She was sentenced to a year and three months in prison on one of the charges, and is facing a maximum of 20 years if found guilty on the others. Her successor, Ruken Aktas, was facing three years and nine months in prison. Aktas’ successor, Sibel Esmer, was sentenced to one year and three months on propaganda charges. The sentence was under appeal at the year’s end.
In June, IPI reported on the sentencing of journalist Irfan Akhtan to a year and three months in prison, for an article he wrote in October 2009, and a fine of 16,000 Turkish Lira was imposed on Merve Erol, the editor of Express, the fortnightly magazine that published the article. The two journalists were found guilty of dispersing “propaganda relating to a terrorist organization,” under Article 7 of the Turkish anti-terror law.
In December 2009, a Turkish court sentenced Ozan Kilinc, the editor of a Kurdish newspaper to 21 years in prison for publishing what the court called Kurdish propaganda, only two weeks after the European Court of Human Rights ordered Turkey to pay over 40,000 Euros to 20 Turkish journalists as compensation for having violated their rights.
On 26 April the Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland announced that they will send a media freedom envoy to Turkey.
Jagland announced on 13 April that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan had agreed to allow the Council of Europe to send a fact-finding mission to look into the arrests of several journalists in connection with the alleged ultra-nationalist “Ergenekon” plot.
The plot – in which members of the military, academics and journalists have been implicated – allegedly contemplated assassinations and attacks that would lead to calls to overthrow the government.
Jagland said: “I will send a special representative as soon as possible. This envoy will report back to me so that we can make an assessment of the situation. This is a constructive approach and a move forward in discussion about media freedom in Turkey.”
The secretary general said the move followed telephone discussions with Erdogan last month in which Jagland expressed hope that the cases against journalists could be resolved as quickly as possible.
As late as December, Emine Demir, the former editorial manager of Kurdish newspaper Azadiya Welat, was sentenced to 138 years in prison over articles that she accepted for publication in the newspaper. The 24-year-old was found guilty of spreading propaganda for the outlawed PKK, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party.
In April, another IPI statement called attention to Vedat Kurþun, former editor of Azadiya Welat, who was sentenced by a Turkish court to three years in prison in connection with two articles deemed to have spread propaganda for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, PKK – which is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey, the European Union, the United States and many other countries.
Kurþun had already served 13 months in jail while awaiting his trial, after being arrested in Istanbul in January 2009 as he arrived in the city to testify in another case.
Also in December, authorities arrested two journalists working for the Renge Heviya Jine magazine. On December 5, authorities arrested the former editor-in-chief of the magazine, Berivan Eker, as she was on her way to a meeting with her lawyer.
According to information from IPI’s National Committee in Turkey, Eker was under investigation for “spreading propaganda for an illegal organization" and, based on two articles she wrote in June and July of 2010, on separate charges of "committing a crime on behalf of an illegal organization". The investigations were later merged.
According to the recently-founded Freedom for Journalists Platform (FJP), of which IPI’s Turkish National Committee is a member, the magazine's former editor- in-chief, Gurbet Çakar, had earlier been arrested by the Public Prosecution of Diyarbakýr, a Kurdish-majority province in south-eastern Turkey. The prosecutor was demanding a prison term of up to 20 years for Çakar on charges of "spreading propaganda for an illegal organization via the media" and "membership of the PKK".
Renge Heviya Jine is the only magazine for women in Turkey publishing in both Kurdish and Turkish. The first editor-in-chief of the magazine, Sultan Sonsuz, has been indicted under charges of “propaganda” in five different cases. She was sentenced to a year and three months in prison on one of the charges, and is facing a maximum of 20 years if found guilty on the others. Her successor, Ruken Aktas, was facing three years and nine months in prison. Aktas’ successor, Sibel Esmer, was sentenced to one year and three months on propaganda charges. The sentence was under appeal at the year’s end.
In June, IPI reported on the sentencing of journalist Irfan Akhtan to a year and three months in prison, for an article he wrote in October 2009, and a fine of 16,000 Turkish Lira was imposed on Merve Erol, the editor of Express, the fortnightly magazine that published the article. The two journalists were found guilty of dispersing “propaganda relating to a terrorist organization,” under Article 7 of the Turkish anti-terror law.
In December 2009, a Turkish court sentenced Ozan Kilinc, the editor of a Kurdish newspaper to 21 years in prison for publishing what the court called Kurdish propaganda, only two weeks after the European Court of Human Rights ordered Turkey to pay over 40,000 Euros to 20 Turkish journalists as compensation for having violated their rights.
On 26 April the Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland announced that they will send a media freedom envoy to Turkey.
Jagland announced on 13 April that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan had agreed to allow the Council of Europe to send a fact-finding mission to look into the arrests of several journalists in connection with the alleged ultra-nationalist “Ergenekon” plot.
The plot – in which members of the military, academics and journalists have been implicated – allegedly contemplated assassinations and attacks that would lead to calls to overthrow the government.
Jagland said: “I will send a special representative as soon as possible. This envoy will report back to me so that we can make an assessment of the situation. This is a constructive approach and a move forward in discussion about media freedom in Turkey.”
The secretary general said the move followed telephone discussions with Erdogan last month in which Jagland expressed hope that the cases against journalists could be resolved as quickly as possible.
