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TURKEY: 4 JOURNALISTS RELEASED IN COUP PLOT TRIAL
SELCAN HACAOGLU
The Associated Press
March 12, 2012 Monday 10:08 PM GMT
Four Turkish journalists were freed from jail Monday, a year after
they were detained in a case that has raised fears for press freedom
in the country. Two pledged to immediately tackle sensitive subjects
again, including the killing of an ethnic Armenian journalist.
The four were detained along with nine other people on accusations that
they had formed the media wing of an alleged secularist network that
plotted to topple Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Islamic-rooted
government.
A court ordered their release pending trial. It cited the time they
spent in jail and noted that the charges against them might be changed.
Dozens of journalists are jailed on terrorism charges in Turkey,
and Erdogan's government faces growing international criticism that
it is trying to silence its challengers. The government rejects the
accusation, citing its record of instituting Western-backed reforms.
It says it must prosecute an alleged network of hardline secularists
accused of plotting a coup.
Six of the defendants in the case remain in jail, including writer and
government critic Yalcin Kucuk and Soner Yalcin, the owner of Oda TV.
The suspects deny the charges. Three others had already been freed
pending trial.
Some 400 other people also are on trial for being part of the alleged
network, which prosecutors say plotted in 2003 to create chaos and
spark a military coup. Critics say the trial is based on flimsy or
fabricated evidence and aims to intimidate and muzzle government
opponents.
"Free press can't be silenced," shouted dozens of journalists as they
celebrated the release of their colleagues.
Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc expressed satisfaction at the court
ruling. "It is pleasing," Arinc said. "It was sad to see them jailed."
Nedim Sener, an award-winning reporter for Milliyet newspaper,
promised to keep investigating the 2007 assassination of an ethnic
Armenian journalist, Hrant Dink.
Sener had already faced an earlier prosecution for a book about
the assassination, in which he had alleged official negligence and
argued that an alleged coup plot gang was behind the murder. He did
not serve time in jail for that prosecution.
After his release Monday, Sener said he will work to "have the
murderers of Dink imprisoned."
"They first tried me, then put me in jail, but the truth cannot be
imprisoned," Sener said.
A recent trial failed to shed light on alleged official negligence or
even collusion in Dink's killing. A presidential investigation last
month concluded that officials had neglected to protect Dink despite
signs that he would be targeted.
Ahmet Sik, another investigative journalist, who was among the four
released, had been preparing a book about the alleged infiltration
of Islamists into the Turkish police when he was charged and jailed.
"Justice will prevail when perpetrators of this case against us are
imprisoned," Sik said. He added that the entire press was under intense
pressure from the government and that he would continue to work as an
"independent."
SELCAN HACAOGLU
The Associated Press
March 12, 2012 Monday 10:08 PM GMT
Four Turkish journalists were freed from jail Monday, a year after
they were detained in a case that has raised fears for press freedom
in the country. Two pledged to immediately tackle sensitive subjects
again, including the killing of an ethnic Armenian journalist.
The four were detained along with nine other people on accusations that
they had formed the media wing of an alleged secularist network that
plotted to topple Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Islamic-rooted
government.
A court ordered their release pending trial. It cited the time they
spent in jail and noted that the charges against them might be changed.
Dozens of journalists are jailed on terrorism charges in Turkey,
and Erdogan's government faces growing international criticism that
it is trying to silence its challengers. The government rejects the
accusation, citing its record of instituting Western-backed reforms.
It says it must prosecute an alleged network of hardline secularists
accused of plotting a coup.
Six of the defendants in the case remain in jail, including writer and
government critic Yalcin Kucuk and Soner Yalcin, the owner of Oda TV.
The suspects deny the charges. Three others had already been freed
pending trial.
Some 400 other people also are on trial for being part of the alleged
network, which prosecutors say plotted in 2003 to create chaos and
spark a military coup. Critics say the trial is based on flimsy or
fabricated evidence and aims to intimidate and muzzle government
opponents.
"Free press can't be silenced," shouted dozens of journalists as they
celebrated the release of their colleagues.
Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc expressed satisfaction at the court
ruling. "It is pleasing," Arinc said. "It was sad to see them jailed."
Nedim Sener, an award-winning reporter for Milliyet newspaper,
promised to keep investigating the 2007 assassination of an ethnic
Armenian journalist, Hrant Dink.
Sener had already faced an earlier prosecution for a book about
the assassination, in which he had alleged official negligence and
argued that an alleged coup plot gang was behind the murder. He did
not serve time in jail for that prosecution.
After his release Monday, Sener said he will work to "have the
murderers of Dink imprisoned."
"They first tried me, then put me in jail, but the truth cannot be
imprisoned," Sener said.
A recent trial failed to shed light on alleged official negligence or
even collusion in Dink's killing. A presidential investigation last
month concluded that officials had neglected to protect Dink despite
signs that he would be targeted.
Ahmet Sik, another investigative journalist, who was among the four
released, had been preparing a book about the alleged infiltration
of Islamists into the Turkish police when he was charged and jailed.
"Justice will prevail when perpetrators of this case against us are
imprisoned," Sik said. He added that the entire press was under intense
pressure from the government and that he would continue to work as an
"independent."