BIA Media Monitoring Report For The Third Quarter of 2008 (Full Text)

According to the report published by the Media Monitoring Desk of the Independent Communications Network (BIA) for the period of July-August-September 2008, total of 116 people, 77 of whom are journalists, were prosecuted in 73 freedom of expression cases.

The 32 page long report presents the violations under the following headings: “Attacks and Threats”, “Custodies and arrests”, “Cases and Attempts”, “Arrangements and seeking of rights”, “European Court of Human Rights”, “Reactions to censorship and monopolizations”, and “RTÜK Implementations".

Attacks and Threats

On 26th of September, Trabzon’s 2nd Criminal Court of Peace sent the file of the two gendarmerie officers who were on trial for neglect of their duties prior to the murder of Hrant Dink to the High Criminal Court by ruling lack of jurisdiction.

Same as the witnesses heard before, Lieutenant Hüsamettin Polat, Branch Director of Trabzon Provincial Gendarmerie’s Fight Against Smuggling and Organized Crime Unit, told that accused petty officers Okan Şimşek and Veysel Şahin had informed their superiors, including Colonel Ali Öz, about the tip for the planning of the assassination of Hrant Dink. Polat told in his statement that Şimşek and Şahin had brought up the information Yasin Hayal’s brother in law Coskun İğci had conveyed to them in the daily intelligence meeting held in July 2006.

 “Colonel Ali Öz did not show the necessary sensitivity about the intelligence tip regarding Hrant Dink’s murder. This was not neglect or ignoring the tip. This did not seem normal to me. I got suspicious. It is not intentional, but I cannot say neglect, either.”

Murdered journalist Hrant Dink’s family filed a complaint with the Supreme Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) against the three judges for not doing their duty.

Lawyer Fethiye Çetin accused judges Atilla Sarp, İlhan Hanağası and Sadettin Yaman for “violating the law by making decisions without legal ground” and “restricting the effective right to apply to courts. The lawyers asked for legal and administrative investigation for the three judges. Completing their application on September 25, the lawyers wanted to initiate a legal and administrative investigation against the three judges and inspect their decisions. The application of the lawyers emphasized the fact that the court had ended on June 27 the 1,5 year long investigation by the inspectors of the Ministry of Interior with one paragraph long decision without any legal ground. The investigation was conducted to determine the role of the  Istanbul Police Department in the murder of Hrant Dink on January 19, 2007. The Regional Administrative Court refused to grant permission for the investigation of any of the officers, in spite of the information the inspectors were able to uncover against the officers and the conclusion by the experts that they had some responsibility in the matter.

The lawyer emphasized that this decision ended the chance to prosecute Istanbul Police Chief Celalettin Cerrah, Intelligence Branch Director Ahmet İlhan Güler and the eight police officers.

Reporter Turan Aktaş of daily Taraf filed a criminal complaint against the police officers who manhandled him during an identity inspection and the Medical Examiner’s Officers for submitting a report stating there was no manhandling. The reporter said he had gotten into a discussion about the matter of identity inspection at the Söğütlüçeşme train station with the police officers when he was trying to make a report and after the discussion he was twive manhandled for taking their pictures. The officers, on the other hand, said they manhandled him since he was taking pictures.

After the newspaper of the Doğan Media Group started making news about the Lighthouse (Deniz Feneri) fraud case in Germany and possible connections with the association sharing the same in Turkey and the Justice and Development Party, the Prime Minister attacked the Doğan Media Group, accusing them with shady deals. In return, Doğan accused the Prime Minister of blackmailing them. Assoc. Prof. Aslı Tunç, Head of the Media and Communications Systems Department at Bilgi University, “The latest polemic between the Prime Minister and a media boss, threatening each other through the media organs, has reminded us one more time how important democracy is.”

At the second week of his accusations directed at the President of the Doğan Group Holding Aydın Doğan, Prime Minister Recep Tayip Erdoğan attacked the International Pres Institute (IPI) and the World Press Councils Union (WAPC) for criticizing him in the foregoing altercation. The Prime Minister accused the said organs as being under the control of Doğan. Condemning the threats directed at the Doğan Media Group, IPI President David Dadge demanded Erdoğan take back his ultimatum to the group and stop the pressure on the media. WAPC President Oktay Ekşi also reacted to the Prime Minister’s remarks. The Turkish Journalists Association (TGÇ), the Contemporary Journalists Association (ÇGD) and the Committee of the Publishing Freedom of the Turkish Writers Union (TYB) protested the Prime Minister As well. Ferai Tınç, President of the Press Institute Association and a columnist for daily Hurriyet, said he could not accept the Prime Minister’s attack. President of the World Association of Newspapers (WAN) Gavin O’Reilly and the President of the World Editors Forum Xavier Vidal-Folch expressed great concern in the letter they wrote to the Prime Minister at the attempts to prevent the press freedom. 

The headquarters of daily Yeni Şafak was attacked the second time in the last five months. It was concluded by the police that the broken window that was found in the morning of August 31 was broken because of a gunshot from outside. The same building was attacked on July 4, 2001 and May 5, 2008.

In Mustafa Kınalı’s report named “Two people took Ogün to Hrant”, which appeared in the newspaper Hurriyet, Associate Doctor Emin Gürses, who was arrested in connection with the Ergenekon case, tells that there were two individuals with Samast when he went to kill Dink and he learned this from a university student, a woman who witnessed the incident. This explanation, which appears on the 159th page of  the 137th folder in the  appendices of the Ergenekon indictment, is based on the telephone communication Gürses had with an individual who he called “Paşam”. These statements in Gürses’ telephone interview appeared in the media: “Now the kid (Ogün Samast) who went to kill Hrant Dink went there with two other individuals. The father of the girl who saw this told us, ‘My daughter saw them. They were speaking about the event and my daughter was behind them.’ The girl is a first-year student in a university. These men and this kid went and killed Hrant Dink. These men are not around. These men took this kid to Hrant Dink’s door. Their identities are not known.” This new evidence confirmed the images that appeared during the Show TV news showing Dink’s murderer with two other people.

The internet sites of www.antenna-tr.org , which publishes the news and information about the activities of the Initiative Against the Thought Crime regarding the freedom of expression, and www.ortakpayda.org, which presents the activities for the common ground searches in the society, were hacked on July 24. Hearing that their site was hacked by a group so bold not to hide their identity, Şanar Yurdatapan, the spokesperson for the initiative, called upon the Prime Minister, the Telecommunication Institution, the Minister of the Interior and the Justice and the prosecutors conducting the Ergenekon investigation to do their jobs. Yurdatapan says these individual who describe themselves as “Sabotage TIM” organize through an internet site named www.atabeyler.org. He wants these internet pirates be investigated thoroughly to determine whether or not they were connected with the Ergenekon organization.

Senior Major Ali Oğuz Çağlar, who was on duty at Trabzon at the time of Dink’s murder, said petty officers Okan Şimşek and Veysel Şahin, who are on trial for breach of duty at the 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance, had done their duties. Çağlar confirmed that the intelligence reports about Dink’s assassination plans had come up at a meeting with Trabzon gendarmerie officials but was ignored by Colonel Ali Öz. Gendarmerie informant Coşkun İğci, Sergeant Major Hüseyin Yılmaz, Master Sergeant Hacı Ömer Ünalır and accused Şimşek and Şahin, who were heard by the court previously, had given the above statement about Colonel Öz’s involvement.

The subcommittee of the Human Rights Investigation Committee of the Turkish Parliament (TBMM) announced its report about Hrant Dink’s Murder on July 23. The report stated that the state was at fault in protecting the life of its own citizen. President of the committee and Bursa deputy for the Justice and Development Party (AKP) Mehmet Okutan, who declined to answer the questions of the journalists, said, “We reached the decision that there was fault, negligence and lack of coordination both in gendarmerie and police organizations.”

After going to the European Human Rights Court (ECHR) twice for the Trabzon Gendarmeries and Police officials who did not process the tips regarding Hrant Dink’s murder, lawyers of the Dink family are getting ready to go to the ECHR for Celalettin Cerrah as well. Following the preliminary investigation by the inspectors of the Ministry of Interior, Istanbul Regional Administrative Court had decided on June 27 that there would be no investigation against Istanbul Police Chief Celalettin Cerrah and the seven officials. The decision stipulated that Intelligence Branch Director Ahmet İlhan Güler, Intelligence Branch Vice Director Bülent Köksal, Chief of the Office of the Intelligence Branch İbrahim Pala, Section Chief Şevki Eldivan, Desk Chief Volkan Akbulak and police officers Bahadır Tekin and Özcan Özkan had no fault in Dink’s murder and therefore there was no need to grant permission for their investigation.

The court was finally able to take Trabzon Provincial Gendarmerie Regiment commander Colonel Ali Öz’s statement after one and a half years. Giving his statement at Bursa’s 1st Criminal Court of Peace on July 21, Öz argued that Intelligence Office Director Captain Metin Yıldız informed him about Hrant’s Dink murder of January 19, 2007 by calling him on his cellular phone during his visit at Zigana Mountain in the Black Sea region of Turkey. When asked about the statements of Okan Şimşek and Veysel Şahin that the intelligence reports about Dink’s assassination plans had come up at a meeting with Trabzon gendarmerie officials, Öz, who appeared at the court as a witness, said, “This subject did not come up at this meeting. I do not remember it.”

Describing Metin Yıldız, Ali Oğuz Çağlar, Hüsamettin Polat, Gazi Günay, Hüseyin Yılmaz and Gökhan Asla as his staff, Öz declined to answer lawyer Cinmen’s question if there was an animosity between him and them since he said he did not want to answer. When Dink’s lawyers asked if the signature on the Form for Recording and Communicating Information of the Provincial Gendarmerie Command was his, Öz’s answer was affirmative. When he was reminded that Yıldız stated for Bolu Criminal Court of Peace on June 9 that he had told him during an intelligence meeting where Okan Şimşek, Veysel Şahin and other commanders were present as well that Hrant Dink was going to be murdered, Öz said that he did not remember if this subject was brought up.

On July 20, Trabzon Governor Nuri Okutan announced that they had reached the decision to launch an investigation about Trabzon’s Provincial Gendarmerie Commander Colonel Ali Öz and former Intelligence Branch Director Senior Captain Metin Yıldız for their involvement in Dink’s murder. Ergin Cinmen, of the lawyers of the Dink family, demanded the cases in TrabzonIstanbul must be combined and added that otherwise the justice would not be served in Dink’s case. and

Fethiye Çetin, one of the lawyers for the Dink family, said that they were following the news about the inspectors from the media, since they received no notification about it. She told that the report was going to be submitted to Trabzon Governorship’s Provincial Administrative Council and they were planning to get involved depending on the decision of the council.

In the sixth hearing on July 7, Istanbul’s 14th High Criminal Court, which is trying the Dink murder case, decided to continue keeping the eight accused under arrest.

In spite of the constant demands by Dink’s lawyers, the court refused to combine the Trabzon Gendarmerie case with the Dink murder case.

Complaining that he became a suspect in the case he had started as a witness, gendarmerie informant Coşkun İğci said that he had done his duty as a citizen and tried to prevent Hayal from carrying out Dink’s murder. He further added that once he had realized he could not have prevented him anymore, he had informed the gendarmerie about Hayal’s plans. He was also able to delay the murder for one, one a half months up until October 2006 by telling Hayal that he was going to buy a gun. After this, he said, he had never seen Hayal anymore. İğci repeated the same testimony that he had given during the Trabzon trial and said that among the accused, he had only known Ahmet İskender.

When he asked how many times he met with gendarmerie he told that he knew the gendarmerie people with whom he was in touch since 2004 and he met with them five, six times after the intelligence reports about Yasin Hayal.

The court heard, Hakkı Bahadır Cihan, son of Yaşar Cihan, a provincial chairperson of the Great Unity Party (BBP). He told the court that there was no connection between the BBP and the “Alperen Ocakları” (Hero-Dervish Hearths), claiming that Metin Gündoğdu’s statement “our people were going to do the Dink job, they messed it up” was transmitted wrongly.

The court heard the testimonies of Ogün Samast’s relatives Yaşar Samast and Aslan Samast, and Ahmet Emin Özmete, who saw Ogün Samast running after the murder, Agos employee İnan Murat and Agos advertisement section employee Kristin Dellaloğlu.

Ergin Cinmen, one of the lawyers of the Dink family, argued that the law regarding the prosecution of the state officials and other public officials blocked the investigation and prosecution of those within the state who were responsible for the murder. He said that the said law blocked the three of the four fields of the legal struggles regarding the case. He pointed out to the fact that none of the officials from the Istanbul Police Department whose neglect in the murder had been shown were being prosecuted.

Custodies and Arrests  

Tutku Türkol was apprehended by Kadıköy/İstanbul police on September 5. The victim claimed that the police had taken her Birgün and ripped it to pieces, while asking her why she was reading it and from where she way buying it. Following this, she was apprehended and kept in the station for a while, being verbally and physically harassed in the process. Eighteen-year Türkol was kept in the station for forty minutes and threatened. She says she will go after them. Türkol later filed a criminal complaint against the police officers. Co-Spokesperson of the Greens Party Bilge Contepe said in the announcement she made, “These police officers who committed this crime should be suspended, but this is not it. All the police officers who are responsible for this outrage, from the superior of the Moda Station to the chief of Istanbul Police, should be suspended until the investigation is over.”

Meryem Özsöğüt, a member of the central executive committee of the Health Workers Union (SES), who was apprehended on January 8 for participating in a press release in Ankara, arrested and put in jail, was released on September 5. Özsöğüt was accused of “being a member of a terrorist organization” and “doing propaganda of a terrorist organization” after she participated at the commemoration of Kevser Mızrak. 

Writer Murat Coşkun has been in prison since August 22 for “provoking hostility among people” with his book titled “Acının Dili Kadın” (Woman who is the language of pain), published by Peri Publishing in January 2002. He was sentenced to one year fifteen days.

The writer had to give a statement to the court for his book while he was in the Bursa Prison for being a member of the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK). After his release, the writer had gone back to Adana, where his family lives. The writer was sent back to prison when the case about his book was finalized by Istanbul’s 12th High Criminal Court on August 22.

It was claimed, said publisher Önal, that the 128 page long book had a passage where the members of the Turkish Armed Forces were called “vultures” and another passage where the propaganda of the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) was done through PKK militant Zeynep Kınacı, whose code name was given as Zilan.

On August 12, Kurdish politician Mahmut Alınak was sent to jail since he refused to pay the fine the court ordered for the crimes of which he was found guilty. While one of his crimes was proposing the names of left wing and pro-Kurdish figures Deniz Gezmiş, Vedat Aydın and Musa Anter, all killed, as street and park names, the other one was protesting the prison conditions of Abdullah Öcalan, leader of the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK), who is in jail for life. Alınak surrendered to the prosecutor of the city of Kars after the press release and was taken to the Kars Prison. Alınak describes entering prison as one’s duty in Turkey in the fight against the existing anti-democratic practices.

The twenty-four students from the Youth Federation who were taken into custody for organizing a caricature exhibition titled “Common Enemy America” at the Sivas branch of the Education and Science Workers Union (Eğitim-Sen) on May 23. Among the 24 students, İlker Ekiz, Elbil Çınar, Mustafa Doğan, İbrahim Karataş and another person are still in the Sivas E Type prison. The case of the five people, who are accused of “organizing a caricature exhibition”, “reading the Tavır periodical” and “being a member of the Youth Federation”, was declared confidential. The case will be tried in the High Criminal Court of Erzurum province.

Hacı Boğatekin, owner of the newspaper Gerger Fırat, was released after 109 days in prison. He was arrested by the Criminal Court of First Instance of Gerger, Adıyaman on July 30 for writing that there was a close relationship between Prosecutor Sadullah Ovacıklı and Fethullah Gülen, a religious leader of a powerful Muslim community.

On July 25,Istanbul’s 13th High Criminal Court accepted the Ergenekon indictment. Thus, the case with 86 suspects, 47 of whom arrested, will be held on October 20. It refers to the many incidents such as the assault on the State Council on May 17, 2006 and daily Cumhuriyet on May 5-10 and 11, 2006, the murders of Hrant Dink on January 19, 2007 and Pries Santoro on February 5, 2006.

The indictment states that the said activities were organized with the intentions of creating chaos through “nylon” (imaginary) terrorist organizations to create chaos to help prepare the conditions for military coup. İlhan Selçuk, license holder of the newspaper Cumhuriyet, is accused of “forming and administering an armed organization named Ergenekon”, “attempting to overthrow the government by force”, and “provoking armed uprising against the government”, facing life imprisonment twice. Selçuk was taken into custody on March 21 and was later released pending trial. 

Journalists Vedat Yenerer, Güler Kömürcü, Ferit İlsever, Adnan Akfırat, writers Ergün Poyraz and Ümit Oğuztan are described as the people who organize the relations with the media. Yenerer, Kömürcü and Akfırat are facing 15 years in prison for the charge of “membership in an armed terrorist organization.” İlsever, director of the television channel Ulusal Kanal and Serhat Bolluk, chief editor of the periodical Aydınlık, are facing 35 years in prison for the charges of “membership in an armed terrorist organization” and “provoking armed uprising against the government.”

Early in the morning on July 1, twenty four people, among them the retired generals Hurşit Tolon, former commander of the 1st army, Şener Eruygur, former head of the Gendarmerie Forces and president of the Atatürkist Thought Association, Levent Ersöz, former Gendarmerie General Command Intelligence Department head, and Mustafa Balbay, the Ankara bureau chief of the daily “Cumhuriyet”, Sinan Aygün, Ankara Chamber of Commerce (ATO) Chairman were taken into custody. Eleven media profession organizations that make up of the Turkish Journalists’ Union (TGS) and the G9 Platform announced their concern over the detention of the journalists in the prolonged Ergenekon investigation. In its announcement, TSK said, “We respect the decisions of the independent judiciary. However, the latest developments bring up the question whether or not the independent judiciary has become a tool of the political struggles between the groups in the state.”  “The G9 Platform, too, stated that “their colleagues would go and give their statements when asked by the prosecutor, but, considering some of these journalists’ stance against the government, the way these journalists are detained creates some concern.” The prosecutors conducting the investigation objected to the release of Mustafa Balbay, retired admiral İlker Güven, Prof. Dr. Ercüment Ovalı, vice president of the Pioneer Youth of the Worker Party (İP) Tunç Akkoç, Hamza Demir, Neriman Aydın, Turkish Radio and Television reporter Murat Avar and Siyami Yalçın.   

The Freedom of Expression and Press

On September 25, the 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance acquitted British collage artist Michael Dickinson who was accused of drawing the Prime Miniser Erdoğan as George W. Bush’s dog. The court referred to the 10th article of the European Human Rights Convention (EHRC), which protects the freedom of expression, and reached the conclusion that even though there were denigrating components in the work of the suspect, it was still a “political critique”. Dickonson was taken into custody on September 12, 2006, kept in Ümraniye Prison for three days and Zeytinburnu Foreigners Branch for one week and released on September 22.

On September 26, the 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance began hearing the case of İbrahim Özdabak, the caricaturist for the newspaper Yeni Asya, who was accused of satirizing Abdurrahman Yalçınkaya, Prosecutor of the Supreme Court of Appeals, by drawing him as an “owl wearing a cloak.” Yalçınkaya was the prosecutor in the AKP closure case.

Özdabak was accused of insulting the prosecutor on March 19 under article 125 of the Penal Code with his caricature in which the owl wearing a cloak goes “goog, goog, goog.

Özdabak stated that it was the first time he was prosecuted in his 25 years of journalism. He said, “Caricature is part of the art of drawing. People and incidents are criticized through humor. It is a way of expressing what cannot be said or written, way of using freedom of expression. Those who are part of the judiciary can be criticized, too. One should be able to criticize anybody and any institution in a democratic society and in a state where the law rules.” Özdabak said he had not intended to commit crime and asked for his acquittal.

His lawyer Akbaş stated that this case should be seen within the context of the freedom of expression. The court decided to continue the case on December 5.

Istanbul’s 10th High Criminal Court fined daily Hurriyet’s reporter Sebati Karakurt and managers Hasan Kılıç and Necdet Tatlıcan fifty thousand euro for the interview conducted with the PKK four years age. The article titled “The awareness of women in Kandil surpasses the Kurdishness” was construed as “publishing the comments of the terrorist organization” and “doing propaganda for the PKK”.

After the interview on October 10, 2004, the police had stormed Karakurt’s house, pressured him to turn in the images he had and later apprehended him. Many media organizations, among them the Turkish Journalists Association (TGC) and the Press Council, had reacted against this treatment. The interview was about the life of the militants located on the KandilMountain in Northern Iraq and their changing values. Nurcan Çalışkan, lawyer of the journalists, emphasized that the interview had brought to light the unknown sides of the PKK organization, the article was a news reports and was therefore protected by the freedom of the press.

The court fined Tatlıcan 10 thousand euro for “doing propaganda for an illegal organization through media” and both Kılıç and Karakurt and 20 thousand euro each for “doing propaganda for an illegal organization through media” and “making declarations for an illegal organization.” Karakurt had made an interview with one of the Kongra-Gel organization (which is affiliated with the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK)), Murat Karayılan, and both the male and female guerillas at the KandilMountain in the northern Iraq.    

On September 25, the Civil Court of First Instance was waiting for the decision of the Supreme Court of Appeals to prosecute the compensation case against caricaturist Muhammet Şengöz, who was tried for criticizing Kocaeli Mayor İbrahim Karaosmanoğlu with his caricatures. Reacting to the billboards the mayor had planted around the town, on which some imaginary citizens were asking the mayor what was his next deed, Muhammet Şengöz had drawn a caricature showing an imaginary citizen with his back turned and pants down, asking the mayor who the next person would be. Karaosmanoğlu's reply was a criminal lawsuit against the caricaturist, followed by a civil suit for damages in 5000 Euro.

The caricaturist was sentenced to 11 months and 20 days in jail on September 21, 2007. Having his sentence converted to a fine of 3500 euro, Şengöz’s lawyer Suat Temoçin appealed the verdict. The hearing for the damages that was held today will continue on December 25.

Famous singer Bülent Ersoy’s trial for saying “If I had given birth to a child and someone sitting at a desk had said ‘You will do this, he will do that’, and I would have buried my child, would I accept that?” during TV program called “Popstar Alaturka Program” by Star TV on February 24 continued. She is accused of “alienating people from military service.” Ersoy defended her position by saying that she was demanding a solution rather than death to solve the problem at hand and she also added that she had the right to express her opinions as an artist who was born and raised in Turkey and paid her taxes. The court ended the hearing with the decision to wait for the statements of some of the complaining institutions. The trial will continue on October 30.  

Writer Hasan Basri Aydın is on trial for insulting former Minister of Justice Cemil Çiçek via a petition. When Aydın filed a complaint with the Prosecutor’s Office against the former minister for the failure of the judiciary to take action against an injustice the writer experienced when he was getting his washing machine fixed. The case against Aydın was filed because of his petition filed on February 8, 2007. A case was filed against Aydın under article 125 of the Penal Code (TCK) for using the expression “Minister of Justice Cemil Çiçek who stained justice and his post.” The trial began at the 3rd Criminal Court of First Instance of Küçükçekmece, Istanbul on September 24. Aydın was prosecuted twice for insulting Cemil Çiçek, receiving 15 month prison sentence for each case. The sentences in these cases were appealed.

The case against Melih Kaşkar, owner and chief editor of the newspaper Milas Önder, for insulting Prime Minister Erdoğan by publishing a joke about him began in the 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance of Milas. Kaşkar is facing prison sentence of two years and eight months in the case in which he is accused of calling the Prime Minister and the President Gül dishonorable via jokes about them. Coşun Efendioğlu, a partner and publishing director of the newspaper, defended the newspaper by stating that they receive these jokes from their readers, although they check them for problems like these, sometimes they miss them, they should not be tried for such a mistake. But on the other hand, he also pointed out to the technique of the joke and described as a well-designed joke. The Prime Minister had filed lawsuits against Sefer Selvi, caricaturist for of Daily Evrensel, Musa Kart, caricaturist drawer of daily Cumhuriyet, Mehmet Çağ of the comic magazine Leman, and the comic magazine Penguen and the newspaper Sakarya.

The case against Sait Bayram, news director Söz TV and the newspaper affiliated with it, and Fırat Avcı, a reporter for the same institution, for publishing that Judge Mehmet Yücel Kurtoğlu of Diyarbakır was exiled for accepting bribe is continuing at the 2nd      

The 3rd Legal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Appeals reversed the compensation decision against journalist/writer Yalçın Ergündoğan for his article titled “His disciples rose against Haydar Baş and published in daily “Birgün”. Haydar Baş, president of the Independent Turkey Party and head of Kadiri religious order, had filed a lawsuit against Ergündoğan for attacking his personal rights through the abovementioned news article published on April 26, 2005 and asked for compensation in the amount of 5000 YTL (about 2500 Euro). Although there was a trial process for the same article with three-year prison sentence demand, which had a scheduled hearing on September 18, Beyoğlu’s 4th Criminal Court of Peace in Istanbul had already fined the author 1500 YTL (about 750 Euro). The Legal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Appeals reversed the decision on the grounds that the trial process had not been completed, since the period to prove the allegations was still not completed. Therefore, Ergündoğan’s case will restart at Beyoğlu’s 4th Civil Court of Peace on October 8. The trial against the writer will continue on January 29, 2009.

The writer had said the following right before his sentence: “Now, is it not news to publish in an internet site (The Real Face of Haydar Baş) that the disciples of Haydar Baş, who is president of a political party, left him and why they left. It is with the publishing of this news that the subject was brought to public’s attention and a Republican People’s Party deputy had brought it to the Parliament’s agenda.”

Following the complaint by Republican People’s Party deputy and retired ambassador Şükrü Elekdağ against the Blue Book, full title of which was “The Treatment of the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire between 1915-16” ,  representative of Pencere Publishing Muzaffer Erdoğdu, translator Ahmet Güner and historian Taner Akçam, whose article appeared in the book, were sentenced by the court to compensate the complainant for the damages. The 6th Peace Court of First Instance accepted the demand partially for compensation in the amount of ten thousand euro during the verdict hearing on September 17 and ruled for compensation in the amount of 3500 euro.  The accused plan to appeal the verdict.

On September 16, Journalist Cengiz Kapmaz was sentenced to 10 months in prison and fined 375 YTL (about 179 Euro) for his interview with former Democracy Party (DEP) deputy Orhan Doğan. He was charged with “doing propaganda for the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK)”. Kapmaz was found guilty by Istanbul’s 13th High Criminal Court for his article titled “Let PKK enter the Parliament” published on June 22, 2006. The court reduced Kapmaz’s sentence from one year in prison to ten months in prison and 375 YTL fine. It also fined the administrators of the newspapers at the time, Hasan Bayar and Ali Gürbüz, 2000 YTL (about 1100 euro) and 4000 YTL (about 2200 euro) respectively.

Kapmaz told that he was convicted as if to show what might happen to those journalists who talk differently about the Kurdish Problem.

The investigation that eventually led to Kapmaz’s sentence was launched for Orhan Doğan’s words “A group of politicians led by Zübeyir Aydar should come to Turkey before the elections. They should enter the parliament as independent deputies and Öcalan can be put under house arrest”. Kapmaz was working for the newspaper Ülkede Özgür Gündem at the time.

On September 16, the High Criminal Court of Batman province acquitted Sedat Özsevin, head of the Batman Bar, and Ahmet Sevim, branch head for the Organization of Human Rights and Solidarity for Oppressed (MAZLUMDER), of the lawsuit filed against them for preparing a report about eleven year old Mizgin Özbek’s death. Eleven year old child was killed when the security forces opened fire at a vehicle in the Kozluk district of Batman province. Özsevin and Sevim were on trial for “attempting to influence the process of fair trial” because of their mentioning of the human right violations that had led to death of three people on July 5, 2006. Özsevin and Sevim are also accused of “denigrating publicly the armed forces” under article 301. This charge is waiting for the decision of the Ministry of Justice. Moreover, Mustafa Kemal Çelik, owner of the newspapers Batman Postası, Batman Barış and Vizyon, which publish the reports of the rights organizations, Aytekin Dal, director in-charge of the newspaper Vizyon, Mehmet Sadık Aksoy, director in-charge of the newspaper Barış, and both Nedim Arslan and Mustafa Seven of the newspaper Batman Petrol are on trial for “denigrating publicly the Armed Forces” and “attempting to influence the process of fair trial”.

The trial of Soner Arıkanoğlu, a reporter for daily Taraf, began at the 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance of Kadıköy, Istanbul on September 16. He was taken into custody on March 27 for reporting that a plan of the Supreme Court of Appeals was found at the raid of the headquarters of the Worker Party (İP) in connection with the Ergenekon operation on March 21. In connection with this news piece, the newspaper had also brought up an allegation that head of YARSAV Ömer Faruk Eminağaoğlu had forwarded the part of the indictment for the closing of the Justice and Development Party about Abdullah Gül to the Worker Party. The journalist is on trial for the charges of “slander”, “attempting to influence the process of fair trial” and “violating confidentiality of the process.” 

Kurdish politician Mahmut Alınak, who proposed to use the names of Deniz Gezmiş, Vedat Aydın and Musa Anter, left wing and pro-Kurdish figures who were killed, for streets and parks and who protested the prison conditions of Abdullah Öcalan, leader of the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK), who is in jail for life, was sent to jail since he refused to pay the fine the court ordered for the above crimes. The court punished him for the crime of “praising the crime and the criminal” and “provoking not to abide by the laws” when he proposed to give the names of Deniz Gezmiş, Vedat Aydın and Musa Anter to various streets and parks. While Deniz Gezmiş, one of the leaders of Turkish People’s Liberation Army, was hanged in 1972 for his political activities, Vedat Aydın and Musa Anter were murdered for their political activities conducted in the name of the Kurdish people. Alınak said he refused to buy his freedom and that was why he chose to go to the prison instead. Alınak had made a call for civil disobedience at a panel titled “Priorities of Democracy” held by the Caucasus University Student Association on June 4, 2006.

On September 12, the prosecutor for the 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance of Şişli asked for Cüneyt Arcayürek, a columnist for daily Cumhuriyet, a prison sentence for his article titled “The Vermin of Fethullah Gülen”, claiming he had insulted Fethulah Gülen, an important Muslim religious leader, in the article. Journalist’s lawyer Bülent Utku argued that his client had used the term vermin to describe a process of decay and spreading and was referring to the connections between the national soccer and the religious groups; it was meant to describe the spreading to and interfering in the field of soccer. The lawyer also added that they did not want to reach a compromise with the complainant. The court granted the accused until March 27, 2009 to prepare its defense.          

Ministry of Justice stopped the trials of Nurettin Demirtaş, former president of the Democratic Society Party (DTP), and Selma Irmak, former vice president of the same party, under article 301. Both individuals were on trial for voicing the allegations regarding the Uludere, Şırnak operation where 11 Kurdish Workers Party guerillas were killed. They were accused of “denigrating publicly the Republic and the Armed Forces.” The court ruled that this was permitted by the freedom of expression.

The ministry pointed out to the decision of the European Human Rights Court (ECHR) that as long as there was no encouragement of violence, the official policies of a government could be criticized and it reached the decision that the expressions that were part of the allegation were permitted by the freedom of expression; they were said with the intent to criticize. The decision also claimed that the freedom of expression was not only for those ideas and opinions liked by the society, but for those that were disturbing and shocking, too.

The nine journalists were acquitted of the lawsuit filed against them for writing that Abuzer Yıldırım, a suspect of Malatya Istanbul. Mustafa Erkan Acar and Sedat Güneç of daily Zaman, Kemal Öktaş of daily Vatan, Gökçer Tahincioğlu of daily Milliyet, Oya Armutçu, Aslı Sözbilir and Ali Dağlar of daily Hürriyet, Ersin Bal of daily Akşam and Hilal Köse of daily Cumhuriyet were facing prison sentences in the case filed upon Başverdi’s complaint. massacre of the three Protestants, had sent telephone messages to Refik Hakan Başverdi, prosecutor of Kartal,

Three of the five investigations targeting Erkan Çapraz, chief editor of the newspaper Yüksekova News of Hakkari in eastern Turkey, were dismissed. The investigations were launched for the charge of “denigrating publicly the military institution of the Republic of Turkey”. One of the investigations was for violating article 301.

The investigations against Çapraz were launched following the news reports at the internet site of the newspaper, which were  the articles titled “The real names of the Kurdish provinces”, “Dağlıca commander is removed from his office (voice recording)”,  “Images of Aktüt Raid”, “Dağlıca images”, and one of Erkan Çapraz’s article titled “Kurds and Newroz Fire”.

The 16th Criminal Court of First Instance of Bakırköy, Istanbul is prosecuting Faruk Çakır, director in-charge of the newspaper Yeni Asya, under article 285 for the article titled “The investigation about the incident of State Council is being widened.” He is charged with “violating the confidentiality of the investigation”. The next hearing will be on December 2.

On July 22, 2007, Kurdish politician Orhan Miroğlu was sentenced for speaking Kurdish in the city of Mersin during the general elections in 2007. The court decided to keep the sentence secret for five years and reveal it only if Miroğlu does propaganda in Kurdish during this time. If Miroğlu does not speak Kurdish during this time then the sentence will disappear. Miroğlu said the sentence meant he could not speak in Kurdish for five years and he likened the decision to the sword of Damocles. He could not appeal the decision since he was not at the hearing.

A criminal complaint was filed against journalist Ahmet Altan and director in-charge and authorized representative of the newspaper Taraf Adnan Demir for the article “Ah Ahparik” ('Oh brother' in Armenian). The complaint was filed by the Ankara branch of the Great Union Party (BBP). The BBP representatives claim that the writer who wrote “the Unionists [of the Ottoman era] conducted a cruel genocide” showed the Turkish nation as genocide-seekers, barbaric and immoral.

The 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance of Beyoğlu, Istanbul is waiting for the permission of the Ministry of Justice to prosecute journalist Sinan Kara under article 301 for his article “Kadrolu Katiller” (murderers on staff) published in daily Free Agenda In The Country. Two lawsuits were filed against journalist Kara for his articles “Kadrolu Katiller” (murderers on staff) and “Kışla Partisi” (The Party of the Barracks) for “denigrating the military institution of the state through media”.

Artist Ferhat Tunç is on trial for the article “Bir Devrimci Leyla ve Bir Şarkı” (A revolutionary Leyla and a song) published in the newspaper Free Agenda Again. He is accused of “tahkir and tezyif the judiciary”. The 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance is prosecuting the artist and director in-charge Mehmet Çolak for the article that discusses the concept of “Deep Judiciary.” They are both facing prison sentences.

On September 9, the Ministry of Justice did not give permission for the prosecution of owner of the newspaper ‘Gerger Fırat’ Hacı Boğatekin, who had criticized Turkey’s past social policies with his article titled “Turkey made a mistake.” The Ministry’s reasoning was that the said article was simply a reflection of the writer’s opinions and thoughts. He was on trial for saying “Where did the state make a mistake? Where and When? Yesterday, in the East and the Southeast, later in Istanbul, Maraş, Sivas, and today, in Trabzon, Istanbul, Mersin and the Southeast.”

DİHA Van reporters Oktay Candemir and Erkan Öksüz are on trial for the interview titled “The witness of the Zilan massacre talked, made last year, on September 9. The 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance of Van will continue their case in which they are facing prison sentences on November 6. They are accused of “provoking people to hatred and hostility.” They had interviewed Kakil Erdem, 94 year old witness of the Zilan Stream massacre of 1930. The witness had described the terrible tortures against the victims, his thirty-five relatives killed by the soldiers and the bad treatment a pregnant woman and threr relatives of his had to endure. 

The case in which daily Birgün’s Sunday supplement editor Gökhan Gençay and executive officer İbrahim Çeşmecioğlu are on trial for the interview titled “Savaşların İnsan kaynağını Kurutalım” (Let us drain the human source of the wars) with the conscientious objector Erkan Bolot on October 10, 2005 will continue on October 23. The two journalists are facing three years under article 318. Perihan Mağden, a columnist for daily Radikal, who was tried for the article “Vicdani Red Bir İnsanlık Hakkıdır” (Conscientious objection is a human right) and acquitted on July 27, 2006, is facing another trial for writing the article titled “Şimdi Vicdani Ret” (Conscientious objection now), which had appeared in daily Radikal. Birgül Özbarış, a reporter for daily "Ülkede Özgür Gündem", is also facing 21 years for her reports and interviews about conscientious objection. Prosecutor Mahmut Yalçın Arı of Gazinantep’s 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance demanded punishment of owner of the newspaper “Çoban Ateşi” Yasin Yetişgen for the crime of “alienating people from the military service”. On trial for his “Anne beni askere yollama” (Mother do not send me to the army) article, Yetişgen faces another trial for opposing the Law Regarding Crimes Against Atatürk, founder of the Turkish Republic.

A lawsuit was filed against weekly Atılım for the article it published about past leftist revolutionaries Deniz Gezmiş, Mahir Çayan and İbrahim Kaypakkaya. Atılım is accused of “praising the crime and the criminal.” The prosecution of Sibel Bulut, editor of the newspaper, will start at the 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance of Fatih, Istanbul on November 3. The accusation was grounded on the statement that “They were remembered by the slogans that represented only one channel of the revolutionary movement of 71. Today, we need to claim the stars of 71 with a perspective that embraces all three channels and that learn from each of these channels (…)”. Mehmet Şirin Karademir, provincial administrator of the Ankada branch of the Democratic Society Party (DTP) is facing a similar trial for his speech given at the commemoration meeting in the city of Çorum for Kaypakkaya.

The 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance is prosecuting Murat Bağlı for the expressions in his stand-up comedy show at the 6th Diyarbakır Culture and Art Festival and lawyer Eren Keskin for “provoking people to hatred and hostility” with her speech at the panel about solutions for the Kurdish problem. The trial will continue on November 11.

Ministry of Justice gave permission for the continuance of the trial of Temel Demirer under article 301 for saying that Hrant Dink was not only killed for being an Armenian, but recognizing the genocide as well. Not surprised by this decision of the ministry, Demirer’s lawyer Şiar işvanoğlu told bianet that if the ministry had refused giving permission, then those more liberal minded judges would be willing to use initiative.” “We were expecting this decision. With this decision, they have just proven that their promises regarding the European Union, democracy, the structural reforms and the human rights are all fairytales. On the one hand they go to Armenia to watch a game and on the other hand they are filing cases under article 301.” Demirer is also accused for “provoking people to hatred and hostility” for his speech in Ankara on January 20, 2007, the next day after the murder of Hrant Dink. Demirer is accused of “provoking people to hatred and hostility.”

President of the Scientific and Cultural Researches Foundation (İLKAV) Mehmet Pamak and President of the Teachers Union Yusuf Tanrıverdi are waiting for a similar permission decision to be (or not) prosecuted under article 301 from the Ministry of Justice for their alleged denigration of the Republic and the armed forces. Since the ministry’s reply is not back yet, their hearing is delayed to November 17.

Dicle News Agency (DİHA) Van Region Representative Sıddık Güler, former Party Assembly member for the Democratic Society Party (DTP) Alattin Ege,  DTP’s Çukurca District Head Mehmet Kanar and a parson named Muğdat Aslan are on trial for “revealing a cross-border land operation that was conducted secretly.” The accused are on trial at Van’s 3rd High Criminal Court for “being members in an armed organization” and “helping a [terrorist] organization willingly and knowingly”; they are facing jail sentences from six months to 12,5 years. Güler was apprehended while on his way to Hakkari in the eastern Turkey to report an incident. He was kept for 16 days and released pending trial.  Saying that he was doing his job as a journalist, Güler has asked for his acquittal. Güler is accused for passing the information he received about the operation from the DTP authorities to the pro-Kurdish Roj TV in Europe. The court was adjourned until October 7 to inspect the evidence..

The 2nd Criminal Court of Peace of Şişli, Istanbul banned famous evolutionist Prof. Richard Dawkins’ internet site (richarddawkins.net) in Turkey on the grounds that Adnan Oktar’s personality was violated by this site. The court reached the decision to ban the site on September 3. The site was accused of containing insults against Oktar’s (known as Harun Yahya too) book titled “Atlas of Creation”.

The 15th Criminal Court of First Instance of Diyarbakır is prosecuting Diyarbakır Mayor Osman Baydemir and Diyarbakır municipality administrators Zülfi Atlı, Mehmet Denli and former mayor of Sur district Abdullah Demirbaş for publishing a book composed of Turkish-Kurdish stories and a handout for organ donation. They are accused of “opposing the law regarding the Turkish letters” and “misconduct in office”. The next hearing will be on October 21.

Journalist İrfan Uçar and director in-charge Hasan Bayar of the newspaper Gündem  are on trial under article 301 for the article titled “301 numara” (Number 301). The case came following the complaint from the Ministry of Justice. They are accused of “denigrating the government, the judiciary, the police and the military of the state.” The case is waiting for the permission of the Ministry of Justice.  

On September 2, Hüseyin Kalkan, Batman mayor from the Democratic Society Party (DTP), was convicted for praising the pro-Kurdish Roj TV. He had said, “I feel good whenever I come to the Roj TV. The Roj TV is as holy for the Kurds as the cities of Medine and Mecca are for the Muslims.” Diyarbakır’s 5th High Criminal Court convicted Kalkan to one year in prison in yesterday’s (September 2) hearing for “praising crime and criminal.” Taking into consideration the behavior of the accused during the trial, the court first reduced the sentence to ten months and then converted it to the fine of 9000 YTL (about 4500 Euro).

A lawsuit has been filed against journalists Gökçer Tahincioğlu and Kemal Göktaş for making a story about Ankara’s 11th High Criminal Court’s giving permission to the Police Department, the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) and the Gendarmerie Head Quarters to monitor others. After Ankara’s Public Prosecutor Hüseyin Görüşen’s investigation under article 6/1 of the Anti-Terror Law regarding “targeting the public officials who are part of the anti-terror activities”, the Office of Istanbul’s Chief Public Prosecutor demanded punishment of the two journalists. The indictment prepared by the Office of Istanbul’s Chief Public Prosecutor claims that the court orders that granted the Police Department and the MİT a general authority to monitor others were classified. Therefore, the journalists were guilty of reporting classified information. Furthermore, giving the name of the judge responsible for the court orders meant the journalists had also committed the crime of “making the judge target of the terrorist organization.” The case will start on October 16.

Following the decision of denial by the Supreme Court of Appeals, the 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance rejected the case against Dursun Onur, chief editor of the newspaper Yıldız in the district of Bulancak, for the charge of insult. The case was filed by A. Salih Erdem, former president of the board of directors of Fiskobirlik, for the expression “the dog whose death has come will pee at the wall of a mosque.”

On August 20, the Ankara Chief Prosecutor’s Office decided there was no need for prosecution in the case filed by former Chief of Staff Yaşar Büyükanıt against columnist Fikri Sağlar for “slandering and attempting to influence the process of fair trial.”  The Prosecutor’ Office had reached the conclusion in the investigation it conducted that there was no evidence showing that Sağlar had acted with the intention to commit the crime of slander, but had simply expressed his opinions.

Beyoğlu/Istanbul prosecutor Muzaffer Yalçın saw no need to try Nuray Canan Bezirgan and Kevser Çakır, who were accused of insulting Atatürk, founder of the Turkish Republic, because of their statement that “I do not like Atatürk, I like Humeyni.” Prosecutor’s reasoning was that there was no need for special laws to protect Atatürk’s value.

The Criminal Court of First Instance of Mersin acquitted Osman Koçak, head of the Mersin 78’ers Association, Selçuk Şahin Polat, head of the Mersin 68’ers Association and Ethem Dinçer, former head of the Mersin 78’ers Association of the charge of “praising the crime and the criminal” for the commemoration of the revolutionary leaders of the 60’s and 70’s, Deniz, Yusuf and Hüeyin, on May 6.