Turkish court rejects appeal for detained editors

JournalismPakistan.com | Published 9 years ago

ISTANBUL: A Turkish court on Tuesday threw out an appeal against the detention of two editors from a top daily newspaper as a global media rights watchdog launched a major petition for their release.

The higher Istanbul court rejected the appeal from lawyers for the Cumhuriyet daily's editor-in-chief Can Dundar (pictured centre) and its Ankara bureau chief Erdem Gul who had been arrested on "spying" charges last week, the Dogan news agency reported.

The appeal had been made to the Istanbul criminal court on the simple grounds that the ruling contravened the Turkish constitution and law.

The case of the two journalists -- both hugely prominent figures on the Turkish media scene -- has amplified concerns about press freedom in Turkey under the rule of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Media rights watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) Tuesday launched an international petition for their release, with initial signatories including US linguist Noam Chomsky, French economist Thomas Piketty and Turkish pianist Fazil Say.

The petition accuses Erdogan of "waging a methodical crackdown on the media in Turkey for years" and persecuting journalists "in an increasingly ferocious manner".

"The Erdogan regime's arrests, threats and intimidation are unworthy of a democracy," added the petition.

RSF secretary general Christophe Deloire said the Turkish authorities appeared to prosecute journalists more than IS jihadists.

"The Turkish authorities are targeting the wrong enemy," he said at a news conference in Istanbul.

"We appeal to the government, as a matter of honour, to restore all the conditions of pluralism, starting with freedom for journalists," he added.

- 'Legitimate journalistic work' -

The case has also come amid growing concern over the numbers of journalists and members of the public facing legal proceedings in Turkey on allegations of insulting Erdogan.

"Unfortunately, there are more and more journalists today in the courts," the head of the Turkish journalists' union TGS Ugur Guc told a news conference.

Freedom of expression group Pen International has also expressed alarm over the arrests, saying the editors were being punished simply for proper investigative journalism.

"This is an attempt to punish these journalists for their legitimate journalistic work which falls entirely within the interest of the Turkish public," Salil Tripathi, Chair of PEN International's Writers in Prison Committee.

An Istanbul court on Thursday charged the two journalists with "aiding a terrorist organisation" and spying for alleging that Turkey had covertly shipped arms to rebels in Syria.

Both were remanded in custody pending trial, but no date has been set and it may be months away. If convicted, both men face up to 45 years in prison.

Erdogan had previously warned Dundar he would "pay a heavy price" for the story.

The case concerns the January 2014 interception of a convoy of trucks near the Syrian border. Cumhuriyet published images and video claiming to show they were carrying boxes of weapons and ammunition bound for rebels in Syria sent by Turkey's spy agency.

Erdogan, premier from 2003-2014, was feted by Brussels in the early years of his rule for bringing Turkey closer to EU norms. But especially since he became president in 2014, there have been concerns over creeping authoritarian tendencies.

The arrest of the journalists came just three days ahead of Sunday's EU summit that agreed a deal with Turkey on refugees and was seen as kick-starting the country's long-stalled EU membership bid.

In a letter to EU leaders on the eve of Sunday's meeting, the two journalists wrote from their prison cell in the Silviri jail outside Istanbul that "your solidarity is more vital than ever".

European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker said despite the deal with Turkey on the refugee crisis, "we have not forgotten the differences that still remain with Turkey over human rights and freedom of the press, and we will return to them".- AFP