36 journalists will remain in provisional detention for at least two more months after the judge has ended the first series of hearings on 12 September, rejecting defence petitions and transferring future hearings to Silivri, in Istanbul province, Reporters Without Borders inform.

Court wants no civil society observing the trial

When the next hearing is held on 12 November, 36 of the 44 defendants will have spent nearly nine months in provisional detention. Furthermore, underline Reporters Without Borders, by deciding to henceforth hold this mass political trial 100 km from Istanbul, the court is trying to prevent civil society from observing it, and this is unacceptable.

After clapping and protesting during the 11 September hearing, observers were barred from the court next day.

All requests of defence rejected
On the prosecution’s recommendation, the court rejected all of the defence lawyers’ requests – conditional release, permission to dispute the validity of the charges, and permission for the defendants to use their mother tongue, Kurdish, during the trial.

When the requests were rejected, the defendants placed black bandages over their mouths and turned their backs on the jury in protest.

“We feel like bit players in this hearing”, defence lawyer Sinan Zincir told the court. “We do not accept the way this court is treating us, nor do we accept the presence of members of the security forces in the law court“.

Freedom of expression violated on a massive scale
A total of 44 journalists with pro-Kurdish media such the newspaper Özgür Gündem and the news agency DIHA appear before the court – the 36 who have been held ever since their arrest last December and eight others who have since been released.

They are above all accused of forming a “media committee” that took its orders from Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is an armed separatist group outlawed in Turkey. Most of the journalists are charged with membership in an illegal organisation or with being one of its leaders.

In support of these charges, the 800-page indictment refers above all to published articles and to the journalists’ contacts and conversations.

According to Reporters Without Borders’ information, although the scale of the trial is unprecedented in recent years in Turkey, the process is far from being the only example of infringement on freedom of expression. Journalists are being tried every week, in most cases under the anti-terrorism law. The trial of 204 people, including Nobel Peace Prize nominee Ragıp Zarakolu and three other journalists, under a separate section of the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) case, will resume on 1 October.

Prime Minsiter calls on editors to “discipline” reporters
Özgür Öğret and Nina Ognianova, the members of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) Europe and Central Asia Program Staff, say the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has directly instructed journalists to stop covering the long-standing conflict between the Turkish Armed Forces and the outlaws in his recent televised “message to all the media”.

He has called on media owners and editors to discipline reporters and columnists critical of his policies, particularly when it comes to the sensitive Kurdish issue. According to Öğret and Ognianova, in more than a few cases, to avoid trouble, newsroom managers have listened and dismissed the staffers in question.

At a live TV debate on 31 August, the prime minister told journalists: “This [news about the conflict] must be ignored; there is no other way”. He proceeded to claim that U.S., French, and British media do not cover military action in Afghanistan. This, of course, is untrue.

He accused Turkish media of serving as a propaganda platform for the PKK in recent kidnapping by the PKK of an opposition member of parliament, who was released two days later in southeastern Turkey.

CPJ representatives state that propaganda of terrorism is an umbrella term in Turkey, where the legal system provides authorities with ample opportunity to prosecute and imprison journalists, publishers, academics, activists, and demonstrators on the vaguely defined charge. Dozens of journalists are in prison in Turkey for their work, the vast majority of them on PKK and terrorism-related charges.

In his August 31 statements, Erdoğan specifically told the media to stop reporting on fallen Turkish soldiers, who are officially recognised as “martyrs” by the Turkish state. A journalist pointed out that readers demand coverage of the issue.

As a result, pro-Kurdish local television station Gün TV is banned from broadcasting its evening news programs for a week since 13 September. The program’s hosts are also banned from appearing on air – not only on Gün TV but on any station – for the same period. An astronomy documentary series will be aired instead of news.

The ban was ordered by the High Board of Radio and Television (RTÜK) – the state media regulator – on a complaint made by Mustafa Toprak, the governor of Diyarbakir province, on request of local police. The complaint said that Gün TV was involved in terrorist propaganda by praising the PKK and its leaders, according to the local press.

Critical Turkish journalist needs a lawyer on standby
“This repressive approach to the media and civil society not only threatens freedom of information and violates Turkey’s international obligations but also makes it more unlikely that a peaceful solution will be found to the Kurdish problem in the near future and undermines the credibility of Turkey’s attempts to play the role of a regional model”, Reporters Without Borders said.

It is obvious that not only the Kurdish journalists, but also all independent reporters in Turkey may find themselves appearing before the court under fictitious accusations.

CPJ says a critical journalist in Turkey these days needs a lawyer on standby. “The press is laboring under a creaking judicial system and a panoply of antiquated and vague legislation that officials and politicians of every stripe find irresistible as a weapon against muckraking reporters and critical commentators”.

European Federation of Journalists leads the campaign “Set Turkish journalists free”. You can find more information and contribute to the campaign here.

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