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RSF WELCOMES DROPPING OF CHARGES AGAINST JOURNALISTS
TDN
Thursday, April 13, 2006
ANKARA - Turkish Daily News
A Paris-based media watchdog has hailed a recently issued ruling
by an Istanbul court that dropped charges against four prominent
journalists accused of insulting Turkey's courts.
With Tuesday's decision, the court, however, decided to press ahead
with the trial of a fifth journalist.
While welcoming the decision on İsmet Berkan, Erol Katırcıoglu and
Haluk Å~^ahin of daily Radikal and Hasan Cemal of Milliyet, Reporters
Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF) deplored the court's
decision to proceed with the trial of Radikal columnist Murat Belge,
who faces a sentence of between six months and 10 years in prison on
the same charge.
"We are relieved to learn that the charges have been dismissed against
four journalists who faced the possibility of imprisonment for what
they had written," the press freedom organization said.
"We issued a statement on Feb. 8 calling for the withdrawal of the
charges, and we reiterate this appeal now on behalf of the Radikal
columnist, who could still get a long jail term."
"We hope the authorities will in the future resist these growing
prosecutions against journalists and freedom of expression activists."
The five journalists were indicted in December for criticizing a court
decision that briefly blocked a landmark conference in Istanbul on
the Armenian issue. The prosecution charged them under articles that
penalize insults of the judiciary and attempts to influence justice,
carrying up to 10 years in prison.
The discussion of what happened to Armenians between 1915 and 1923
is an extremely sensitive topic in Turkey, which categorically denies
Armenian allegations that Armenians were subject to a genocide campaign
at the hands of the Ottoman Empire.
The trial is seen as a test of Turkey's readiness for membership in the
European Union. Turkey, which embarked on membership talks in October,
is under heavy pressure from the EU and human rights organizations
to address infringements on freedom of expression.
Turkey last year advanced 15 places in the 2005 World Press Freedom
Index of the RSF but is still ranked 98th in the 167-country list,
after Zambia, Togo, Jordan and Madagascar.
--Boundary_(ID_PUSZdPD+EgDOCgEtDchfqg )--
TDN
Thursday, April 13, 2006
ANKARA - Turkish Daily News
A Paris-based media watchdog has hailed a recently issued ruling
by an Istanbul court that dropped charges against four prominent
journalists accused of insulting Turkey's courts.
With Tuesday's decision, the court, however, decided to press ahead
with the trial of a fifth journalist.
While welcoming the decision on İsmet Berkan, Erol Katırcıoglu and
Haluk Å~^ahin of daily Radikal and Hasan Cemal of Milliyet, Reporters
Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF) deplored the court's
decision to proceed with the trial of Radikal columnist Murat Belge,
who faces a sentence of between six months and 10 years in prison on
the same charge.
"We are relieved to learn that the charges have been dismissed against
four journalists who faced the possibility of imprisonment for what
they had written," the press freedom organization said.
"We issued a statement on Feb. 8 calling for the withdrawal of the
charges, and we reiterate this appeal now on behalf of the Radikal
columnist, who could still get a long jail term."
"We hope the authorities will in the future resist these growing
prosecutions against journalists and freedom of expression activists."
The five journalists were indicted in December for criticizing a court
decision that briefly blocked a landmark conference in Istanbul on
the Armenian issue. The prosecution charged them under articles that
penalize insults of the judiciary and attempts to influence justice,
carrying up to 10 years in prison.
The discussion of what happened to Armenians between 1915 and 1923
is an extremely sensitive topic in Turkey, which categorically denies
Armenian allegations that Armenians were subject to a genocide campaign
at the hands of the Ottoman Empire.
The trial is seen as a test of Turkey's readiness for membership in the
European Union. Turkey, which embarked on membership talks in October,
is under heavy pressure from the EU and human rights organizations
to address infringements on freedom of expression.
Turkey last year advanced 15 places in the 2005 World Press Freedom
Index of the RSF but is still ranked 98th in the 167-country list,
after Zambia, Togo, Jordan and Madagascar.
--Boundary_(ID_PUSZdPD+EgDOCgEtDchfqg )--