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Reporters without borders (press release), France
Aug. 7, 2006
Turkey - 2006 Annual report
The country's new criminal code, designed to help Turkey gain
membership of the European Union, came into force on 1 June 2005 and
imposes new restrictions on journalists. The vagueness of some parts
of it allows judges to unfairly imprison them.
Journalists are still at the mercy of arbitrary court decisions that
continue to send them to prison and fine them heavily. Sinan Kara,
of the fortnightly Datca Haber, was jailed for nine months and fined
~@350 for "insulting in the media" (article 125 of the new criminal
code) the sub-prefect of Datca. Burak Bekdil, a columnist with the
English-language Turkish Daily News, was given a suspended 20-month
prison sentence for "insulting state institutions."
Prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan won a libel suit against Fikret
Otyam, of the weekly Aydinlik and a well-known painter, who was
ordered to pay him ~@2,835 damages. It was at least the fourth time
since December 2004 that Erdogan had sued a journalist.
Some parts of the new criminal code, far from bringing Turkish laws
on freedom of expression into line with Europe's, could encourage new
prosecutions of journalists and increase self-censorship habits that
undermine press freedom. Article 305 punishes with between three and
10 years imprisonment actions considered harmful to "basic national
interests," including claims concerning the "Armenian genocide"
and calls for withdrawal of Turkish troops from Cyprus. Article 301
provides for between six months and three years in jail for "belittling
Turkishness, the republic and state bodies and institutions."
Sandra Bakutz, a reporter for Austrian radio station Orange 94.0 and
the German weekly Junge Welt, spent six weeks in prison before being
acquitted of "belonging to an illegal organisation," for which she
risked between 10 and 15 years in jail.
The country's Kurdish and Armenian minorities remain under great
pressure. Editor Hrant Dink, of the bilingual Turkish-Armenian weekly
Agos, was given a six-month suspended prison sentence for "insulting
Turkishness" (article 301-1 of the criminal code). Five journalists
from pro-Kurdish media outlets were arrested in 2005 and four of
them arbitrarily held for questioning in Gulec (eastern Anatolia),
where they had gone to report on the release of a Turkish soldier by
activists of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article =17482
Aug. 7, 2006
Turkey - 2006 Annual report
The country's new criminal code, designed to help Turkey gain
membership of the European Union, came into force on 1 June 2005 and
imposes new restrictions on journalists. The vagueness of some parts
of it allows judges to unfairly imprison them.
Journalists are still at the mercy of arbitrary court decisions that
continue to send them to prison and fine them heavily. Sinan Kara,
of the fortnightly Datca Haber, was jailed for nine months and fined
~@350 for "insulting in the media" (article 125 of the new criminal
code) the sub-prefect of Datca. Burak Bekdil, a columnist with the
English-language Turkish Daily News, was given a suspended 20-month
prison sentence for "insulting state institutions."
Prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan won a libel suit against Fikret
Otyam, of the weekly Aydinlik and a well-known painter, who was
ordered to pay him ~@2,835 damages. It was at least the fourth time
since December 2004 that Erdogan had sued a journalist.
Some parts of the new criminal code, far from bringing Turkish laws
on freedom of expression into line with Europe's, could encourage new
prosecutions of journalists and increase self-censorship habits that
undermine press freedom. Article 305 punishes with between three and
10 years imprisonment actions considered harmful to "basic national
interests," including claims concerning the "Armenian genocide"
and calls for withdrawal of Turkish troops from Cyprus. Article 301
provides for between six months and three years in jail for "belittling
Turkishness, the republic and state bodies and institutions."
Sandra Bakutz, a reporter for Austrian radio station Orange 94.0 and
the German weekly Junge Welt, spent six weeks in prison before being
acquitted of "belonging to an illegal organisation," for which she
risked between 10 and 15 years in jail.
The country's Kurdish and Armenian minorities remain under great
pressure. Editor Hrant Dink, of the bilingual Turkish-Armenian weekly
Agos, was given a six-month suspended prison sentence for "insulting
Turkishness" (article 301-1 of the criminal code). Five journalists
from pro-Kurdish media outlets were arrested in 2005 and four of
them arbitrarily held for questioning in Gulec (eastern Anatolia),
where they had gone to report on the release of a Turkish soldier by
activists of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article =17482