The sixth hearing of the trial against 46 journalists (22 of whom are still in prison) was held today at Istanbul Criminal Court. Presenting his defence testimony, ANF former journalist Ismail Yıldız rejected the accusation made by the prosecutor and said "They never charged us for what we have been doing for so many years, our journalistic job, but now, all of a sudden, journalism, investigative journalism became a crime. This in my opinion is called fascist ambush. That's what we are witnessing here".

The 46 media workers have been arrested on 20 December 2011 following the so called "KCK" (Kurdistan Communities Union) operation. In essence, the journalists are accused of being part of the so called "urban organisation" set up by the PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party).

The General Secretary of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), Ricardo Gutiérrez, was today in Istanbul observing the hearing. "All the prosecuted journalists, many of whom remain in pre-trial detention, worked for pro-Kurdish and left-wing news organisations," said Gutiérrez. "They are charged under Turkey's anti-terror legislation, but it seems clear that many are being penalised for their coverage of the Kurdish issue. EFJ calls for the release of all journalists held in the KCK case. We also call the Turkish authorities to reform the Anti-Terror Law, often misused to prosecute journalists".

Among the foreign observers were also European MP Jaroslaw Walesa, member of PEN Aslı Erdoğan, Turkish representative of Reporters Sans Frontières Erol Önderoğlu.

The hearing opened with the defines by DIHA journalist Çağdaş Kaplan. "The police, on that 21 December 2011, raided every Kurdish press office. - said Kaplan in his emotional speech - The raids lasted for hours. Our computers, notebooks, hard disks, recorders, cameras were confiscated. This was - he added - a censorship operation, although you don't accept this, it was a blow to freedom of expression and association. The journalist profession was put on the dock".

Speaking after Kaplan, former ANF journalist, Ismail Yıldız, pointed out that "it is for no judge to set what "proper journalism" is. According to international literature - he added - what we do is called journalism. Or are we to be considered "strange" and "guilty" because we did not write news the way police wanted ?"
The journalist ended his defence by pointing out that "Turkey has lost its reputation in the eyes of the world when it comes to freedom of the press".

The trial continues tomorrow.