HARASSMENT OF MEDIA SINCE MARCH 2013
Reporters Without Borders is resuming its news feed with updates about harassment of news providers in Turkey.
27.03.2013 - Opposition newspaper owner attacked in northwest
Reporters Without Borders condemns today’s attack on local journalist Cenap Kürümoglu in Tekirdag, in the northwestern region of Eastern Thrace, and hopes the local police will conduct a full and impartial investigation.
The owner of the local daily Habertrak (Thrace Info), Kürümoglu was assaulted in the city centre by two masked men, who hit him with clubs and then fled when he called for help. He was briefly hospitalized with an eye injury.
Police investigating the attack seized security camera recordings from shops on the street block where it took place.
Kürümoglu said he thought the attack was linked to Habertrak’s editorial policies. The newspaper is critical of the local government and supports the nationalist and secularist Republican People’s Party (CHP), the largest opposition party in the national assembly.
“One of my assailants was short and the other was tall,” Kürümoglu said when he left hospital. “The henchmen of those who are robbing the city of Tekirdag are responsible. This kind of action will not intimidate me. There won’t be the least change in my newspaper’s editorial line, not with the first attack nor the fifth one.”
This is the second case of violence against media personnel in the past two weeks. Two reporters were attacked by residents while covering the demolition of their homes in Ankara on 14 March.
26.03.2013 - Ahmet Sik still facing seven-year jail term for contempt
The trial of well-known investigative journalist Ahmet Sik for contempt of court resumed today before a criminal court in Silivri, 60 km west of Istanbul. Reporters Without Borders reiterates its call for the immediate withdrawal of the absurd charges brought against him.
Sik is facing up to seven years in jail in connection with the comments he made on his release from Silivri prison on 12 March 2012 after a year in preventive detention as one of the defendants in the Oda TV trial.
“One day, those who hatched this plot, and the policemen, prosecutors and judges who carried it out, will in turn be incarcerated in this prison,” Sik said outside the prison. “Justice will reappear on the day they enter it,” he added.
A total of 39 prosecutors and judges in charge of the “Ergenekon” investigation brought complaints against Sik, accusing him of threatening and insulting them in connection with their duties. Four other judges may also file complaints. The next hearing is scheduled for 31 May.
Source http://en.rsf.org/turkey-harassment-of-media-since-march-02-04-2013,44286.html
27.03.2013 - Opposition newspaper owner attacked in northwest
Reporters Without Borders condemns today’s attack on local journalist Cenap Kürümoglu in Tekirdag, in the northwestern region of Eastern Thrace, and hopes the local police will conduct a full and impartial investigation.
The owner of the local daily Habertrak (Thrace Info), Kürümoglu was assaulted in the city centre by two masked men, who hit him with clubs and then fled when he called for help. He was briefly hospitalized with an eye injury.
Police investigating the attack seized security camera recordings from shops on the street block where it took place.
Kürümoglu said he thought the attack was linked to Habertrak’s editorial policies. The newspaper is critical of the local government and supports the nationalist and secularist Republican People’s Party (CHP), the largest opposition party in the national assembly.
“One of my assailants was short and the other was tall,” Kürümoglu said when he left hospital. “The henchmen of those who are robbing the city of Tekirdag are responsible. This kind of action will not intimidate me. There won’t be the least change in my newspaper’s editorial line, not with the first attack nor the fifth one.”
This is the second case of violence against media personnel in the past two weeks. Two reporters were attacked by residents while covering the demolition of their homes in Ankara on 14 March.
26.03.2013 - Ahmet Sik still facing seven-year jail term for contempt
The trial of well-known investigative journalist Ahmet Sik for contempt of court resumed today before a criminal court in Silivri, 60 km west of Istanbul. Reporters Without Borders reiterates its call for the immediate withdrawal of the absurd charges brought against him.
Sik is facing up to seven years in jail in connection with the comments he made on his release from Silivri prison on 12 March 2012 after a year in preventive detention as one of the defendants in the Oda TV trial.
“One day, those who hatched this plot, and the policemen, prosecutors and judges who carried it out, will in turn be incarcerated in this prison,” Sik said outside the prison. “Justice will reappear on the day they enter it,” he added.
A total of 39 prosecutors and judges in charge of the “Ergenekon” investigation brought complaints against Sik, accusing him of threatening and insulting them in connection with their duties. Four other judges may also file complaints. The next hearing is scheduled for 31 May.
Source http://en.rsf.org/turkey-harassment-of-media-since-march-02-04-2013,44286.html
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