Journalism Pakistan
Journalism Pakistan
Even a win can't hide Pakistan's structural collapse in cricket فتح بھی پاکستان کرکٹ کے ڈھانچے کی تباہی نہیں چھپا سکتیJournalists stage walkout at post-budget briefing over government's dismissive attitude صحافیوں کا بجٹ کے بعد کی بریفنگ سے واک آؤٹ، حکومت کے توہین آمیز رویے پر احتجاجLegal storm brews as Dr. Nauman Niaz serves defamation notice on Shoaib Akhtar ڈاکٹر نعمان نیاز کی جانب سے شعیب اختر کو ہتکِ عزت کا نوٹسHRCP urges complete repeal of PECA, citing threats to free speech and civil liberties ایچ آر سی پی کا پی ای سی اے کے مکمل خاتمے کا مطالبہ، آزادی اظہار اور شہری آزادیوں کے لیے خطرہ قرارPFUJ condemns murder of journalist Syed Mohammad Shah, urges immediate justice پی ایف یو جے کا صحافی سید محمد شاہ کے قتل کی مذمت، قاتل کی فوری گرفتاری کا مطالبہState within a state? Police block reinstated Jang employees from resuming duties ریاست کے اندر ریاست؟ جنگ گروپ کے بحال شدہ ملازمین کو دفتر جانے سے روک دیا گیاMoeed Pirzada to report journalist Fakhar Durrani to FBI over alleged data theft معروف صحافی معید پیرزادہ کا فخر درانی کے خلاف ایف بی آئی کو رپورٹ کرنے کا فیصلہ

Turkish reporters defiant over press freedom case

 JournalismPakistan.com |  Published April 02, 2016

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Turkish reporters defiant over press freedom case

ISTANBUL- Two Turkish journalists accused of spying remained defiant on the second day of their trial Friday, in a case seen as a test of press freedom under the increasingly autocratic President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Can Dundar (pictured), editor-in-chief of leading opposition daily Cumhuriyet, and Erdem Gul, his Ankara bureau chief, are also charged with revealing state secrets over a story accusing the government of seeking to illicitly deliver arms to rebels in Syria.

The journalists could face life in prison, but a defiant Dundar voiced optimism they would be found not guilty at the Istanbul criminal court.

"We will win. We have always won throughout history," the bespectacled editor told reporters. "We think the laws will show we are right and we will be acquitted."

The prosecution has sparked outrage among opposition and rights groups in Turkey as well as in the West, where it is seen as proof of Erdogan's determination to silence his opponents.

Almost 2,000 people have been prosecuted for "insulting" him since the former premier became president in August 2014, Turkey's justice minister said in March.

US President Barack Obama on Friday said he was troubled by Turkey's clampdown on press freedom, the day after meeting his Turkish counterpart at the White House.

"It's no secret that there are some trends within Turkey that I have been troubled with," Obama said.

"I think the approach they have been taking toward the press is one that could lead Turkey down a path that would be very troubling."

Erdogan sparked fresh controversy on Thursday, when his security detail clashed with the media at the Brookings Institute in the US capital.

One of the guards aimed a chest-high kick at an American reporter attempting to film the harassment of a Turkish opposition reporter.

Turkish security also tried to keep out two Turkish journalists, one from the opposition daily Zaman that has been seized by the government, prompting a tense standoff with Brookings staff.

"We have increasingly seen disrespect for basic human rights and press freedom in Turkey," Washington's National Press Club president Thomas Burr said.

"Erdogan doesn't get to export such abuse."

Reporters Without Borders ranked Turkey 149th out of 180 countries for press freedom in 2015, citing the widening clampdown on critics of the president. - AFP

 

Related posts from JournalismPakistan.com Archives:

Turkish journalists go on trial in landmark press freedom case

Two editors arrested in Turkey, accused of inciting uprising

'Alarming' decline in media freedom as Turkey fights rebels

 



 

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