Anti-Terror Law Took the Lead in 2010

Transcription

1 Anti-Terror Law Took the Lead in 2010 The BİA 2010 Annual Media Monitoring Report claims that 220 people, among them 104 journalists, were tried for the opinions they voiced in words and writing in Penalties handed down by the ECHR were on the rise as well as domestic convictions under the Anti-Terror Law. 30 journalists were in jail. According to the BİA 2010 Media Monitoring Report, 220 people, 104 of whom are journalists, were tried in the scope of freedom of thought and freedom of expression in The fines handed down to Turkey by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) increased to TL 547,300 ( 281,100). 33 people were sentenced to imprisonment of 365 years and three months in total and monetary fines amounting to TL 49,200 ( 24,500) under the Anti-Terror Law. 30 journalists are in prison. On 56 pages, the report sums up the struggles of 777 people under the headings "killed journalists", "attacks and threats", "arrests and detentions", "trials related to press freedom and freedom of expression", "corrections and legal redress", "reactions to censorship and monopolization", "European Court of Human Rights", and "RTÜK applications". The report cannot fully encompass all breaches of press freedom and freedom of expression. It rather aims at giving an idea about the situation regarding the quantity and quality of violations. Killed journalists Cihan Hayırsevener: On 15 October, the trial on the murder of journalist Cihan Hayırsevener started before the Istanbul 10 th High Criminal Court. Hayırsevener was the General Publications Director of the Güney Marmara'da Yaşam newspaper ('Life in Southern Marmara') published in Bandırma (Balıkesir). He was killed on 18 December Among the twelve defendants on trial are triggerman suspect Serkan Erkkuş (detained), Ilk Haber newspaper publishing coordinator Engin Arıcan, the Bandırma Deputy Mayor, Talip Yıldız (detained), and members of the Kuruoğlu family who is publishing the Ilk Haber daily, namely İhsan Kuruoğlu (detained), İlbey Kuruoğlu and Osman Kuruoğlu. The file was forwarded to the Court of Appeals in order to solve a clash of duties at the Bandırma High Criminal Court. Administrational problems occurred after the file of the murder case had been merged with a case opened under allegations of "establishing an organization for profit", "membership in an illegal organization" and "corruption in public tenders". Hrant Dink: The Istanbul 14 th High Criminal Court dismissed the request for a site survey of the region around the scene of crime in order to confirm the conclusiveness of Ogün Samast's statement. Samast is the prime suspect in the murder case related to the assassination of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink. The Dink family lawyers demanded to access footage of the murder by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK). A security camera of the nearby Akbank Branch had the referring visuals which were erased after the incident. The lawyers asked whether the footage had in fact been deleted and if yes by which program and if it would be possible to recover the records. The court decided to send another letter to the research council since there was no reply yet. The court did not change its position on merging the two cases related to the Dink murder tried in Trabzon and Istanbul as repeatedly requested by the plaintiff lawyers. The Istanbul 14 th High Criminal Court dismissed also the latest claim filed by the lawyers accordingly saying that "the decision of the ECHR has not been finalized yet". It was furthermore decreed to keep defendants Yasin Hayal and Erhan Tuncel in detention because of risk of flight. Hayal and Tuncel stand accused of instigation to murder. Both defendants will have been detained for four years by the date of the coming hearing on 7 February The court decided to send another letter to the Ankara High Criminal Court regarding a statement to be taken from Ergün Çağatay. He had mentioned that defendant Hayal had also targeted author Orhan Pamuk. The attorneys of the plaintiff party will be informed about the date Çağatay is going to give his statement. The court had previously refrained from hearing supposed eye-witnesses Emsale Çakmakçı, Celal Yıldırm and Şahabettin Şahin and witnesses Erhan Şivil and Mehmet Ali Temelocak who sat next to Samast in the coach when he was travelling back to Trabzon after the murder. Reason for not hearing these witnesses was the difficulty to ascertain their addresses. The court is going to work on that again. The court board decreed to have police officer Necati Ekinci interrogated by the High Criminal Court in Rize (eastern Black Sea Coast) since he made a number of telephone calls at the time with Mustafa Öztürk, former head of the so-called Alperen Organization, a far right nationalistic youth group linked to the Great Unity Party (BBP). Prime suspect Samast will be tried before a juvenile court. Amendments on the Anti-Terror Law enforced in June lifted the provision that juveniles older than 15 years of age should be prosecuted like adults. 1 von :48

2 Samast's prosecution will be continued at the Istanbul Sultanahmet Juvenile High Criminal Court towards the end of December Uğur Mumcu: 18 years after the killing of Cumhurriyet newspaper writer Uğur Mumcu in 1993, his case was once more taken to court. Mumcu's family filed a criminal complaint about "the officials who neglected the investigation and the prosecution of the real perpetrators and instigators" related to the journalist murder. Lawyer Halil Sevinç submitted the complaint on behalf of Güldal, Özgür and Özge Mumcu. It was said, "We demand the punishment of the people who are verifiably responsible. Procedures related to the people who could not be taken to court because they were abroad have been left pending at an administrative level. The responsible people should be found in an effective investigation in order to avoid the recent experience of having reached the statute of limitations". The petition conceded that a few people were punished in the scope of the "Umut Trial". However, the real perpetrators and the instigators behind the incident were not found and taken to court and not even Oğuz Demir who allegedly attached the explosives to Mumcu's car was arrested and tried, it was criticized. When Mumcu was murdered, Süleyman Demirel was Prime Minister of Turkey, Doğan Güreş was the Chief of General Staff, İzmet Sezgin was Minister of the Interior, Erdoğan Şahinoğlu the Undersecretary of the National Intelligence Agency (MIT), Sönmez Köksal the Governor of Ankara and Nurset Demiral was the Chief Prosecutor of the State Security Court. When Güldal Mumcu requested to "tear down the walls" encountered during the investigation, Mehmet Ağar, then Chief of Police, replied, "I can't, it is impossible". Attacks and Threats On 11 December, Taraf newspaper writer Roni Margulies was attacked with eggs and paint bags in a panel discussion he attended in Çanakkale (south-western Marmara region). The attack was carried out by members of the Freedom and Solidarity Party (ÖDP) and the Community Centres, it was reported. Taraf journalists Mehmet Baransu and Emre Uslu attended a panel discussion entitled "Democracy and Human Rights" organized by the youth division of the AKP. In expectance of a potential egg attack, Baransu and Uslu brought a pan and a small gas stove. A heated discussion among the people in the audience turned into a quarrel and the panel had to be cancelled. Taraf newspaper journalist Orhan Miroğlu was threatened via an article written by a person called Toprak Cengiz. The threatening news item was published on 29 November on the website of the People's Defence Forces (HPG), an armed wing of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). The article read, "If the essence of your words continues like this, we will put into use a line that was drawn with a red pen! Miroğlu will be dead then!" The incident was condemned in a signature campaign. A gallows rope was thrown to the podium during the speech of Star newspaper writer Mustafa Akyol and Taraf newspaper writer Yıldıray Oğur at a conference on secularism organized by the Sakarya Metropolitan Municipality on 1 November. The rope was allegedly thrown by members of the Rights and Equality Party (HEPAR) Youth Division. According to the Sakarya newspaper, Sefer Şehirali, President of the HEPAR Youth Division, said at the panel discussion, "This is the homeland where the glorious martyrs lay written with the blood of the War of Independence that you betrayed every day". Some young members of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) were attacked, the newspaper reported. The incident was criticized by the Human Rights Association (İHD) and the Association of Human Rights and Solidarity for Oppressed Peoples (MAZLUMDER). On 17 October, supporters of the Trabzonspor football club provoked a fight with members of the Freedom and Solidarity Party (ÖDP). The ÖDP members had organized a protest action on Galatasaray Square in Istanbul with banners reading "Don't eavesdrop, don't spy". The football fans shouted "Down with the PKK". The riot forces were not able to prevent the attack on the ÖDP members. The police intervened with truncheons and tear gas to stop the fight. National Channel reporter Deniz Çağlayan and Samanyolu TV cameraman Huzeyfe Yıldız got injured when they tried to cover the incident and underwent medical treatment afterwards. The ÖDP condemned the attack. Mehmet Öztürk, owner of the Halk Postası newspaper published in Karadeniz Ereğlisi (Zonguldak, Black Sea coast), was attacked on 10 September in front of his office. Öztürk, a retired municipality employee, complained about the attacker. The prosecution launched an investigation. The Ereğli Journalists Association condemned the attack. Members of the Solidarity Association of Prisoners' Families (TAYAD) were attacked with stones on 29 September in the Gazi district of Ankara. The aggressors were a group of people who were alleged ülkücü, i.e. nationalist youths associated with the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP).Cameraman M.V. of the İhlas News Agency (İHA) and İHA reporter B.C. were also attacked when they covered the incident. The police intervened. Yılmaz Sağlık, Publications Director of the Çine Uğur (Aydın) newspaper, was threatened on the website when an article critical of the Çine District Governor, Celalettin Cantürk, was published. The article was entitled "What is the duty of the District Governor in Çine?" The police took Sağlık's statement eight days after he had filed the correspondent complain. 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3 such as "to wear blinkers, to be a handler of problems, to turn a blind eye on illegality, to remain silent on gambling" were taken as a reason to open a trial against the journalist. Journalist Yakup Önal, owner of the weekly Şarköy Sesi ('Voice of Şarköy) newspaper published in the Şarköy district of Tekirdağ west of Istanbul, claimed to have been threatened and insulted by Ali Bayraktar, President of the Şarköy Association for the Thoughts of Atatürk. In an article entitled "The CHP member and member of the Municipality Assembly was convicted for beating his wife" published in the issue of August, the newspaper had reported about the conviction of Bayraktar because he had beaten his wife. Taraf newspaper writer and politician Orhan Miroğlu was threatened over the phone by an unidentified individual who said "You can die any minute". Subsequently, Miroğlu wrote on 6 September in his column in the Taraf daily that he received threatening s from time to time but that this was the first time he received a death threat. Günlük Evrensel newspaper reporter Özgür Topsakal was threatened after the publication of the article entitled "The solution of the problem" on 29 July. Topsakal received an with a picture showing him amongst other people after the murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink. The mail read, "The Alperen members [Islamist/nationalist] will certainly call you to account for what it means to call a great leader a baby murderer. There is no hole to hide in this country for traitors of the fatherland". Topsakal complained at the Elbistan Prosecution. The Steering Board Member of the Çukurova Journalists Association (ÇGC), Özcan Aladağ, writer for the local Kent newspaper, was attacked in a park by two unidentified young people on 9 August in Çukurova (south-eastern Turkey). Before beating the journalist, one of the attackers supposedly said, "This is our last warning to you. You will not write again". It was said that the security staff in the park just watched the attack. It was reported that several writings of the journalist published throughout the previous month were seen as the reason of the attack. Aladağ filed a complaint against both attackers and obtained a medical report from the Forensic Medicine Institute documenting the beating. The Çukurova Journalists Association demanded to arrest the attackers as soon as possible. The article "Will you seize the right to trivial peace" published on the AdanaHaberMerkezi.com website and in the Adana Ulus newspaper on 31 August criticized the high contamination of the water supplied to the inhabitants of Adana, a population of 2 million people. It is not clear if the attack was based on that article. On 5 August, it was reported that İhlas News Agency (İHA) intelligence reporter Edip Tekin was attacked when he attempted to take pictures of a traffic accident that happened in the Osmangazi district of Bursa (north-western Turkey). Apparently, Tekin was attacked by the people involved in the accident. His camera got broken. The Turkish Journalists Association (TGC) condemned the attack. Vahap İş, reporter for the Hedef Newspaper and the Dicle News Agency (DİHA), filed a criminal complaint at the Nusaybin Prosecution about the police officers who are responsible for beating and arresting him on 25 July in Nusaybin in the south-eastern province of Mardin. In his petition for redress, the journalist argued that one of his fingers got broken when the police took his camera away from him. He also claimed that he had been exposed to several insults. In the course of the incident, the police apparently also intervened against İş and seized his equipment. He was able to take back his equipment but the police illegally seized the footage and kept his voice recorder, İş said. He received a sick certificate for ten days. Journalist Cevdet Şen, Doğan News Agency (DHA) reporter for the city of Kınık, was assaulted on 26 July because of a news report he had written about a raid on a pharmacy. 18-year-old F.K. supposedly hit Şen on his head with a hard object in Izmir. F.K. immediately fled the scene after the attack. Journalist Şen was wounded and taken to the Kınık Health Centre where he received first aid. He was then transferred to the Bergama State Hospital. The journalist did not suffer from serious injuries. Suspect F.K. was taken into police custody. Journalists İsmail Eskin and Çağdaş Kaplan from the Dicle News Agency (DİHA) were attacked by a large group of people when they were covering a demonstration in Küçükçekmece, a district on the European side of Istanbul, on 18 July. Eskin and Kaplan were taken to hospital. DİHA announced that the incident was directed by a plainclothes police officer. The journalists were in the Kanarya quarter of Küçükçekmece to gather information about a protest march related to increased police operations against the Provincial Organization of the pro-kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) and against alleged desecration of bodies of members of the militant Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) who got killed in armed conflicts. As reported by DİHA, a group of demonstrators threw a Molotov cocktail and set an office on fire. At the same time, a person who supposedly was a plainclothes police officer, pointed at the journalists and told the others that they had organized the use of Molotov cocktails. Thereupon, a large group of demonstrators attacked Eskin and Kaplan, DİHA announced. The attackers tried to throw Kaplan into the burning office. When Eskin tried to stop them, he was beaten with a rod. It was also reported that the attackers grabbed one of the journalists' cameras. According to the news agency, the police as the responsible party to take security measures remained passive spectators of the assault. The journalists 3 von :48

4 eventually managed to escape. Eskin suffered two cracks in his head and a broken arm, Kaplan was beaten at various parts of his body. Eskin and Kaplan went to the Taksim First Aid Hospital and underwent medical treatment. On 17 July, DHA reporter and editor-in-chief of the weekly Midyat Habur newspaper, Mehment Halis İş, was exposed to police violence when he was covering a protest action organized by the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP). When İş took pictures of the protestors, a plainclothes police officer physically intervened against him, it was reported. Footage published on the local newspaper's website showed a plainclothes person approaching the journalist aggressively and rebuked him, "What are you filming?". 22 non-governmental organizations from the city of Midyat condemned the intervention against the journalist, including representatives from different ethnic and religious groups, e.g. Syrian, Sayyid, Arabic and Kurdish organizations. They were accompanied by members of the Midiyat Civil Society Assembly and many other citizens. Şükrü Gökkaya, news director of the Bizim Radio Television (BR TV) broadcasting in the province of Karabük in northern Turkey, was attacked in his car on 7 July. Gökkaya was attacked by a member of the Turkish Metal Workers Union. The man, who allegedly came to back from work reportedly stopped Gökkaya when the journalist returned from work and punched him with his fist. Gökkaya is in good health. The suspect was arrested. The Contemporary Journalists Association (ÇGD) and the Karabük Journalists Association condemned the attack. "A Cerain General" was the headline of Taraf newspaper after General İlker Başbuğ, then Chief of General Staff, had referred to the nation-wide daily as a "certain newspaper". The daily accused Başbuğ of having violated the law. Başbuğ had alleged that information about the "Action Plan against Reactionary Forces" published by Taraf had been leaked by the police. Taraf newspaper asked Başbuğ whether he had any evidence. The newspaper had previously criticized the general for saying "Either resign as a member of parliament or go to the mountains", referring to pro-kurdish MPs in the "Arena" program hosted by Uğur Dündar and broadcasted on 5 July on Star TV. On 16 June, the owner of the local Türkbeleni newspaper published in the Manavgat district of Antalya (Mediterranean coast), Mehmet Ali Ünal, was targeted with gun fire at in front of his office. Ünal was not injured in the attack which was recorded by the newspaper's security cameras. Ünal claimed to believe that the attack stemmed from the news published in the paper and said that he could not be intimidated by the attack. The concessionaire of the local GAP Gündemi newspaper, Veysel Polat, was attacked in Şanlıurfa, a province in south-east Turkey on the border to Syria, on 14 June. Polat is also the President of the Şanlıurfa Journalists Association and the deputy provincial chair of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) at the same time. He suffered injuries in his face. The president of the Turkish Journalists Association (TGC), Orhan Erinç, condemned the attack on Polat, who is also the association's representative for Şanlıurfa. Dicle News Agency (DİHA) reporter Ömer Çelik was assaulted in the Istanbul district of Şişli by a group of people on 25 May. The attackers called themselves üklücü ('idealists') in reference to the ultra-national "Grey Wolves". Çelik, student at the Marmara University Faculty of Communication, was brought to the emergency room of the Etfal Hospital after the incident. Çelik has got two cracks in his skull and his left arm is broken in three places below the elbow. As reported by DİHA on 26 May, the attackers were recorded by security cameras how they approached the journalist with clubs in their hand. According to the footage, the aggressors waved with their hands and arms when they left the scene after the attack. Çelik said he was able to identify the attackers and filed a criminal complaint. A suspicious package left in front of the Doğan Media Centre in Istanbul on 22 May turned out to contain a time bomb. The Doğan building accommodates offices of the nationwide newspapers Dünya, Radikal and Milliyet. The bomb was disarmed by specialists. The police recognized that it was a mechanism assembled with several cables and called the bomb squad to the scene. The bomb squad placed a fuse into the package and brought the bomb to a controlled explosion. Cables, explosives and the detonator mechanism were left from the package. An investigation was initiated into the footage of public monitoring cameras (MOSEBE) in the region. Private security officials interfered on 21 May when journalist Murat Altunöz covered a boycott organized by the Mustafa Kemal University Students Association (MKÖDER) in the university's canteen. Altunöz is the reporter for the Dicle News Agency (DİHA) for the province of Hatay on the eastern tip of the Mediterranean Sea. He was stopped by the security when he shot a movie of the boycott in the university in Antakya (Hatay). Altunöz was forced to leave the campus. People in civil apparel, introducing themselves as gendarmerie officers, asked the reporter to hand them his camera. When Altunöz refused to let go of his camera, he was made to enter a vehicle with a civil plate. In the car, Altunöz was threatened, "We warned you before. Why are you making news for DİHA? You will have to face bad things". Afterwards, the people in the car let him go. 4 von :48

5 On 19 May, the Turkish Sports Writers Association (TSYD) announced that supporters of the Turkish football club Fenerbahçe attacked the sports press with their sorrow and anger expressed after the team had lost the last match of the 2009/2010 season against Trabzonspor. "By attacking sports press employees in their annoyance and anger, the Fenerbahçe supporters also tainted the memory of deceased İslam Çupi. As the TSYD steering board we wish our friends who were attacked a speedy recovery and we condemn the attackers". Dicle News Agency (DİHA) reporter Pınar Ural was assaulted in a contracted public bus of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality on 17 May. Ural had covered a students' action on the Maslak Campus of the Istanbul Technical University (İTÜ). The İTÜ students had protested against executions in Iran. The aggressor tried to push Ural off the bus by giving her a few violent pushes. The attacker and his companions accused journalist Ural of being a "traitor to the fatherland". In the course of a press conference made after a number of casualties in recent operations of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK), the Chief of General Staff, General İlker Başbuğ, made the following announcement on 2 May: "To say it frankly, one part of the press in Turkey is even worse than the press during the armistice in the War of Independence. Even the press during the armistice was not that treacherous." ÇGD President Ahmet Abakay declared that he found Başbuğ's criticism of the press "wrong and very dangerous". Press Council President Ekşi commented, "Even if a section of media representatives is not accepted, they are part of freedom of speech". Reporter Cenker Tezel, working for the magazine department of Hürriyet newspaper, was attacked by the body guards of Mutasim Gaddafi, son of Libyan leader Muammer al-gaddafi, on the night of 30 March. Tezel had learned from the news editor of the nation-wide daily that Kaddafi's son was in Istanbul at the time and having a night out at the Al Jamal, a restaurant that turns into a night club later at night. When the reporter tried to take a picture of Mutasim Gaddafi, he was assaulted by his body guards. Tezel suffered injuries in different parts of his body; his camera was broken. The Provincial Directorate for Public Education of Tunceli (eastern Turkey) announced to have launched an investigation into threatening s sent to the local Tunceli Emek newspaper by Süleyman Çakmak, Manager of the Provincial Public Education Branch. The local newspaper run by three women had received the s sent under the alias of "striking cobra" ('vurucu kobra') after publishing the article entitled "Public education and a strange education" written by Dilek Karakoyun. Karakoyun had criticized the public education system in her article. Right after the publication of the article on 6 August 2009, the newspaper received an in the evening hours of the same day sent from the address vurucukobra@hotmail.com. A municipality employee with the initials İ.E. from Samsun at the Back Sea coast sent another to the newspaper on 15 July 2009 containing threats and insults. Journalist Tamer Topçu was attacked by two un-identified persons on the evening of 23 March. Topçu had previously criticized the Mayor of Buca, Ercan Tatı, in several articles. The journalist stated that a person he did not know asked for a meeting, saying that he was going to hand him a file about Mayor Tatı. However, they talked on the phone a couple of times but he never showed up at the places agreed on. Eventually, Topçu was heavily assaulted, supposedly by the same person. Prime Minister Erdoğan said in an interview on BBC that he could expel "illegal Armenians" from the country if necessary. He addressed journalist Cengiz Çandar, who expected an apology, without mentioning his name: "Who are you? Be honest for once. Advocate for the right thing". Çandar replied with his article entitled "We did not get it wrong" published in Referans newspaper on 20 March On 1 May, Ahmet Mahmut Ünlü, a controversial Islamic preacher also known as "Cübbeli Ahmet Hoca" ('Master Ahmet with the gown'), invited Taraf newspaper journalist Fırat Alkaç and photo journalist Celal Yıldız to his office of the Arifan magazine for an interview and had allegedly threatened the journalist by his press advisor Barış Sezek and his bodyguards. In his article, Alkaç had written about the increasing competition within the İsmailağa Congregation. Ünlü had accepted the journalist's request for an interview. However, when the journalist arrived for the interview, Ünlü apparently said, "I will not give an interview, I just called you to get to know you". Journalist Ramazan Pekgöz, news chief of the Turkish Günlük newspaper, received a death threat while he was walking to his office in the morning of 28 February. A person with the initials A.S. stopped Pekgöz on the side walk and said, "We finished Hrant Dink off. We will do the same to you". Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink was assassinated in front of his workplace Agos newspaper in January Pekgöz complained about the person who threatened him at the Taksim Police Station in central Istanbul. The suspect was arrested subsequently. On 26 February, the Journalists Union of Turkey (TGS) announced that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan once more disregarded the principles of the constitutional state in his statement about columnists. Erdoğan had implied to sack columnist that criticize the government's accomplishments. In his speech Erdoğan had described the media as "provocative" and the columnists' comments as "inappropriate and nasty". Almost 30 journalists signed a letter of protest addressed to Prime Minister Erdoğan. They wrote: 5 von :48

6 "We as the undersigned columnists think that Prime Minister Erdoğan's statement that the newspaper bosses should control the columnists is contrary to obligatory press freedom and opposes the ideal of a 'democratic Turkey'. We think this is a grave attitude and voice our protest against the statement". Democratic Left Party (DSP) Istanbul MP Süleyman Yağız presented a resolution of questions to the PM; the TGC and the Press Institute Association condemned the incident. On 22 February, the TGC and ÇGD invited Deputy PM Bülent Arınç to more "politeness" after he had "spat" on the media for criticizing the search of the office of the chief prosecutor of Erzincan (north-eastern Anatolia). Arınç gave a speech in Istanbul about the "democratic initiative". Concerning news entitled "The courthouse was searched", Arınç said, "Shame on you. The chief prosecutor searched the [Erzincan] chief prosecutor's home and office with a search warrant at hand. This is the language of law. But in the landloper's language it is "raid". They all got used to raids. They are coming from the tradition of coups", Arınç argued. On 12 February, a computer hacker posted a text on the website of the weekly Armenian Agos newspaper which praised Ogün Samast, prime suspect in the murder case Agos founder Hrant Dink. In the writing put on the main page the hacker(s) said that the murder "was done on behalf of the Turkish flag and the Turkish Republic". Moreover, a photograph of suspect Samast was posted. The Initiative against Discrimination and Nationalism protested the hacking on Beyoğlu's Istiklal Avenue (Istanbul) and sold copies of the newspaper. On 3 February, cameraman Ertuğrul Yılmaz from local television channel Kanal 48 was attacked when he was recording footage of rubble that had been dropped in a forest belonging to the İçmeler Municipality as a part of the city of Marmara on the western Mediterranean coast. 45-year-old Yılmaz was hospitalized due to the injuries suffered from the attack. 27 journalists filed a criminal complaint in the scope of the "Sledgehammer"coup plan, which was allegedly worked out by 1 st Army Commander Çetin Doğan. A total of 36 journalists had been mentioned in the plan to be arrested, 27 of them filed the complaint after their according announcement in a press conference on 28 January. The plan labelled 137 journalists as "to benefit from", whereas the names of 36 journalists were listed "to be arrested". On 25 January, General İlker Başbuğ, Chief of General Staff, commented the "Sledgehammer" coup plan which made the news of Taraf newspaper since 20 January and said, "Also the army has only that much of patience". After the release from prison of Mehmet Ali Ağca, murder of journalist Abdi İpekçi in the 1970s, Ağca's bodyguards threatened journalists when he left his hotel in Ankara. On 19 January, one of the bodyguards threatened the journalists as follows: "I will crush you, I will hit you and put you to sleep". When Ağaç changed vehicles on his way from the Ankara district of Eryaman to the district of Sincan, his bodyguards cursed at the journalists, "Don't come closer, damn you all, god damn it". When Ağca's brother Adnan Ağca was asked questions by journalists in the hotel lobby, he said, "Your capabilities do not improve. Compare yourself with the ones in Europe. Is there any need to read your news?" On 9 January, journalist Ozan Özhan was allegedly attacked by an anti-riot forces policeman when he was looking at a sign board on the wall of the former water depot reading "The Energy of 2010 spreads all over Istanbul" on Istanbul's centrally located Taksim Square. Özhan filed a criminal complaint with the policeman. The journalist went to the Beyoğlu Prosecution on duty the following day to present a report that confirmed beating marks on his legs and his ear. Özhan said he would follow up his criminal complaint. Apparently, a police officer started a quarrel with Özhan. He pulled Özhan inside the shutoff and punched his ear and kicked his leg. Another police officer introducing himself as an inspector came to the scene and told the policeman, "This is the centre of Istanbul, what are you monkeying about with"? Arrests and Detentions Six journalists were imprisoned on the grounds of their published writings or books in 2010: Vedat Kurşun and Ozan Kılınç as former Chief Editors of the Azadiya Welat newspaper; Berivan Eker, the former Editorial Manager of the Renge Heviya Jine ('the colour of the women's hope') magazine; Bedri Adanır, concessionaire of Aram Publishing and official of the Hawar newspaper; Barış Açıkel, Editor-in-Chief of the İşçi Köylü ('Worker Peasant') newspaper; and Nevin Berkatş, writer of the Proletarian Revolutionary Stance ('Proleterce Devrimci Duruş') newspaper. 24 journalists are currently detained but it is not clear yet whether they are going to be prosecuted on the basis of their journalistic activities. They were arrested in the context of major trials such as "Ergenekon, "KCK", "Revolutionary Headquarters", "MLKP" and "Sledgehammer". Halit Gündenoğlu, owner and editor-in-chief of the weekly Yürüyüş ('March') magazine, employees Kaan Ünsal and Cihan Gün and Musa Kurt, chief editor of the Kamu Emekçileri Cephesi ('Public Employees Front magazine'), were taken into police custody in the course of a raid in the morning of 24 December. The police drilled holes into the walls to check the bricks, tore down doors with hammers and seized computers. The raid of the riot forces was done with the help of helicopters. The journalists were 6 von :48

7 arrested and brought to the Ankara Sincan No.1 F Type Prison. Aydınlık magazine writer Emcet Olcayto, detained defendant in the scope of the second indictment of the "Ergenekon terrorist organization" was released pending trial on 11 November. Olçayto is being tried at the Istanbul 13 th High Criminal Court since 21 July He stands accused of "membership in an armed organization", "violation of the confidentiality of private life" and "illegal recording of personal data". On 2 October, Mehmet Veysel Ateş, representative of the Kurdish Azadiya Welat newspaper, was taken into police custody in the course of an operation related to the Union of Kurdistan Communities (KCK), the umbrella organization that includes the PKK. Ateş was released subsequently. The trial against Berivan Eker, former editor-in-chief of the Renge Heviya Jine magazine was continued on 7 December. The 6 th High Criminal Court of Diyarbakır (south-eastern Turkey) dismissed the request for Eker's release. The case was postponed to 25 January. Public prosecutor Ahmet Karaca pleaded for Eker's punishment according to Article 5 of the Turkish Criminal Code (TMY) that foresees an increase of punishment. He demanded to apply Articles 220/6 and 314/2 of the TCK and a two-count application of Article 7/2 of the Anti-Terror Law on the grounds of two issues of the magazine. Hence, the journalist is facing 21 years in prison. On 30 April, the Diyarbakır 6 th High Criminal Court convicted Gurbet Çakar, former editor-in-chief of the Renge Heviya Jine magazine, to imprisonment of three years on charges of "membership in an illegal organization and committing a crime on behalf of the organization" and "spreading propaganda for the PKK". Due to the duration of Çakar's detention during the trial, Çakar, detained since March 2010, was released until the final decision of the Court of Appeals. The case had been opened on the grounds of calling imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan "leader of the Kurdish people" and for publishing photographs of Öcalan and PKK militants. On 30 September, the Diyarbakır 6 th High Criminal Court dismissed the request for the release of Bedri Adanır. The journalist is the owner of the Aram Publishing House and executive of the Hawar newspaper. He stands accused of "spreading propaganda for the PKK" via news and pictures published in the newspaper. The trial will be continued on 3 March Prosecutor Adem Özcan demanded imprisonment of 50 years in total under allegations of "spreading propaganda for the PKK" and "membership in the PKK". In the context of a different case, Adanır was sentenced to five years in jail according to a four-count sentence under Article 7/2 of the Anti-Terror Law (TMY) handed down by the Diyarbakır 5 th High Criminal Court on 29 June. The file is pending at the Court of Appeals. Adanır published a book of Abdullah Öcalan's defence speeches, imprisoned leader of the PKK, made at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). The book was audited and approved by the Bursa Execution Justiceship, yet it was not given a revenue stamp by the Ministry of Culture but was forbidden. Adanır was arrested on 5 January when he entered Turkey from Iraq at the Habur check point in Silopi in the province of Şırnak (south-eastern Anatolia). Since then, Adanır has been detained in the Diyarbakır D Type Prison. Ozan Kılınç, concessionaire and editor-in-chief of the Kurdish Azadiya Welat newspaper, is incarcerated in the Diyarbakır D Type Prison since 21 July On 9 February 2010, the Diyarbakır 5 th High Criminal Court sentenced Kılınç to 21 years and three months behind bars on charges of "making propaganda for the PKK" on the grounds of news and articles published in twelve different issues of the newspaper. The court initially sentenced the journalist to imprisonment of 15 years in total; six years and three months for "membership in an illegal organization and committing a crime on behalf of that organization" and one year three months for each issue on charges of "propaganda for an illegal organization". The Court of Appeals 9 th Criminal Chamber quashed the verdict on 6 December. Journalist Vedat Kurşun, former editorial manager of the Kurdish Azadiya Welat newspaper, has been imprisoned since 30 January On 13 May, he was charged with "membership of the PKK organization" and "spreading propaganda for an illegal organization" by the 5 th High Criminal Court of Diyarbakır (southeastern Turkey). Kurşun received a prison sentence of 166 years and six months. The court decreed to sentence Kurşun to 12 years and eight months, the upper limit for charges of "membership of an organization". He furthermore received a 103 counts' sentence according to article 7/2 of the Anti-Terror Law (TMY) on propaganda for an illegal organization. Kurşun is imprisoned in the Diyarbakır D Type Prison. The Court of Appeals Public Chief Prosecution overturned the sentence claiming that is was too high. The Court of Appeals 9th Chamber will announce its decision on 2 March The owner and editor-in-chief of the İşçi Köylü ('Workers Peasants') newspaper, Barış Açıkel, served his prison sentence of four years and eight months on charges of "membership of an illegal organization". Since July 2010 however, he is kept at the Kandıra No. 2 F Type Prison because of his sentence on "making propaganda for an illegal organization" on the grounds of news and articles published in the newspaper. Açıkel is in jail since 2004, mainly under charges of "spreading propaganda for an illegal organization". Radio Dünya ('World') publications director Kenan Karavil has been detained at the Kürkçüler F Type 7 von :48

8 Prison since 10 December He is being prosecuted at the Adana 8 th High Criminal Court in the scope of the trial regarding the Union of Kurdistan Communities (KCK) Urban Structure. Karavil is facing prison terms of between eight and 22.5 years in total on charges of "committing a crime on behalf of an illegal organization" and "spreading propaganda for an illegal organization". He was arrested together with Seyithan Akyüz, Adana representative of the Azadiya Welat newspaper. Ahmet Birsin, former general publications director of Gün TV ('Day'), was also arrested in the context of the KCK operation and is being detained at the Diyarbakır D Type Prison. National Channel Intelligence Manager Ufuk Akkaya was released from the Silivri Prison. He is on trial before the Istanbul 13 th High Criminal Court in relation to the "Action Plan against Reactionary Forces". Deniz Yıldırım, general publications director of the Aydınlık magazine, and Akkaya were detained on 9 November 2009 because they had reported about illegally recorded telephone conversations between Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the former President of Northern Cyprus, Mehmet Ali Talat, in The Turkish G9 Platform demanded to complement the Constitution by the following sentences: "The press is free and shall not be censored. Laws embodying restrictions of press freedom shall not be enforced". The press organization furthermore requested the amendment of 27 articles of the Turkish Criminal Law (TCK) and the release of all journalists in detention. The G9 Platform is an association of eleven professional press organizations. The Platform demanded to lift all regulations that constitute a restriction of press freedom and freedom of expression within the TCK and the Anti-Terror Law (TMY). Baha Okar, Bilim ve Gelecek ('Science and Future') magazine editor and administrative manager, and Hakan Soytemiz, editorial manager of the RED and Enternasyonal ('International') magazines, have been detained at the Silivri L Type Prison since 24 September because of their alleged affiliation to the "Revolutionary Headquarters" terrorist organization. Cinema and TV productions supervisor Melek Seven was released pending trial on 19 June 2010 at the second hearing of the "Revolutionary Headquarters" trial before the Istanbul 9 th High Criminal Court. Seven had been behind bars since 27 April DİHA reporter Hamdiye Çiftçi was taken into police custody together with a further ten people on 9 June in the course of the KCK/Turkey Assembly (KCK/TM) operation carried out upon the decision of the Van 3 rd High Criminal Court. Çiftçi is still being detained at the Bitlis E Type Prison. Conscientious objector Enver Aydemir was eventually discharged from military service upon an "incapability report" issued by a military hospital after three years of torture, repression and punishments. Aydemir refused to serve in the military for religious reasons. Aydemir commented that it was not him who was incapable but the legal system not recognizing the right to conscientious objection. He was released from the Eskişehir Military Prison (north-western Anatolia) on 9 June. Journalist Erdal Süsem, editor of the Eylül Sanat Edebiyat ('September Arts and Literature') magazine, was arrested in February The Court of Appeal's decision on a life sentence handed down to the journalist under allegations of the "attempt to change the constitutional order by force" in 2007 is still pending. Süsem was released from prison in 2006 when the Court of Appeals overturned the ruling after he had served six years in prison. The journalist is currently detained in the context of a second trial was that opened against him on charges of "membership" in the Maoist Communist Party (MKP) on the grounds of interviews he made with former detainees and convicts which were then published in the Eylül magazine. The second trial will be continued at the Istanbul 12 th High Criminal Court on 26 May. Atılım newspaper reporters Tuncay Mat and Çağdaş Küçükbattal were released pending trial after nine months in detention. Both journalists stand trial for allegedly participating in the demolition of a base station in the Gazi district on the European side of Istanbul. In the second hearing on 29 May, the Istanbul 11 th High Criminal Court decided for the journalists' release after Mat and Küçükbattal had claimed that they followed the incident as journalists and that their prosecution was a breach of law. A total of eleven defendants are on trial, five of whom are detained. The case was postponed to 24 September. The defendants stand accused of having destroyed a base station in the course of activities of the Marxist Leninist Communist Party (MLKP). The indictment accuses both journalists of "resistance with force and threats when the crowd was dispersed", "membership in an armed terrorist organization", "harming public property" and "opposing the Law on Meetings and Demonstrations". More than 120 people were taken into custody in the course of recent operations carried out by the police and the gendarmerie in various provinces. Apparently, the operations targeted the KCK. DIHA reporter Serkan Demirel from Elazığ and Azadiya Welat Elazığ representative Ali Konar were among the people arrested. On 24 May, Konar was detained upon a corresponding demand after the interrogation by the prosecutor; Demirel was released. DIHA reporter Çağdaş Kaplan who had been arrested together with another 19 people was released by the Istanbul Beşiktaş Public Prosecution on the same day. 8 von :48

9 On 20 May, the 4 th High Criminal Court of Diyarbakır (south-eastern Anatolia) released Mehdi Tanrıkulu, editorial manager of the Kurdish Azadiya Welat newspaper, pending trial. Tanrıkulu was detained on 8 April because he had insisted on presenting his defence in Kurdish. Journalist Tanrıkulu stands trial on the grounds of "spreading propaganda for an illegal organization" based on an article published in the Kurdish daily on 23 January In his article, Tanrıkulu had described imprisoned leader of the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), Adullah Öcalan, as the "Leader of the Kurdish People". Moreover, he referred to the PKK as the "Kurdish Freedom Movement". The editorial manager is facing prison sentences of more than 40 years in total due to other cases opened against him by reason of articles and news published in the Kurdish daily. The Istanbul 9 th High Criminal Court released Dicle News Agency reporter İsmail Eskin pending trial in his first hearing after five months in detention on 18 May. Eskin had been arrested when he was covering a demonstration against conditions of detention for imprisoned PKK leader Öcalan. The 1 st Magistrate Criminal Court of Kocaeli (east of Istanbul) detained Eskin on 4 December 2009 and he was taken to the Kandıra Prison. His trial will be continued on 30 September. On 1 April, DIHA reporter Remzi Çoşkun was beaten and arrested by the police in the course of operations directed at the militant PKK organization when he arrived at his home in the evening. DIHA stated that the police did not keep a record of the arrest. Coşkun was apparently told, "You are our guest. We will release you in the morning". He was released in the morning of 2 April. On 7 March, Gençağa Karafazlı, the Rize representative of Birgün newspaper and Show TV was released by the Erzurum 2 nd High Criminal Court. He was in detention for almost one year. Karafazlı was taken into custody in June 2009 in the course of an operation and was then arrested under allegations of "establishing and directing an organization for organized crime". Karafazlı previously served 13.5 years in prison under allegations of "membership in an illegal organization". Cumhuriyet newspaper writer Mustafa Balbay requested the Istanbul 13 th High Criminal Court to re-evaluate the so-called "coup diaries". He pointed out that the investigation into the diaries allegedly belonging to former Naval Forces Commander ret. Admiral Özden Örnek was separated from the Ergenekon file. Journalist Tuncay Özkan is being detained while he is being tried under allegations of "membership in the Ergenekon organization". Writer Erdoğan Akhanlı was released pending trial at the first hearing before the Istanbul 11 th High Criminal Court on 8 December. He is tried for his alleged involvement in an armed robbery 21 years ago. Akhanlı, living in Germany, was detained when he entered Turkey in August The indictment was prepared on 25 August and seeks prison terms according to Article 146/1 of the former Turkish Criminal Code (TCK). Akhanlı was arrested when he entered Turkey on 10 August and taken to the Tekirdağ (Thrace) No.2 F Type Prison. Akhanlı came to Turkey to visit his sick father. He was not able to see his father who died in November when Akhanlı was still detained. The writer's case was observed by Turkish and international human rights organizations, writers and law institutions and political parties. Writer Nevin Berktaş (52) was sentenced to imprisonment of ten months on charges of "propaganda for an illegal organization". The charges were based on her book entitled "Difficult places that challenge the faith: Prison Cells". The book describes the process of resistance in the prison cells where she was incarcerated herself during the time of the military coup in Due to a calculation mistake, Berktaş was imprisoned five years and seven months longer than the law actually stipulated in the context of a previous conviction. Berktaş was arrested on 3 November. She requested to take the extra time she served in prison because of the calculation mistake into account for the recent sentence. The court dismissed her request. Her lawyer appealed to the superior court of the Istanbul 9 th High Criminal Court. Berktaş was convicted after the military coup on 12 September 1980 on charges of membership of the Revolutionary Communist Union of Turkey. She received two prison sentences in 1986 and was in jail for 22 years. Berktaş, also writing fort the Proleterce Devrimci Duruş magazine ('Proletarian Revolutionary Stance'), is being incarcerated in the Bakırköy (Istanbul) Women and Children Prison. The owner and chief editor of the Revolutionary Democracy newspaper, Erdal Güler, was released from prison after almost three years in jail. His release had previously been scheduled for the year Güler was charged with praising illegal organizations such as the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the Maoist Communist Party (MKP). Güler was convicted at the Istanbul 10 th High Criminal Court in 2007 under article 7/2 of the Anti-Terror Law (TMY) on "spreading propaganda for an illegal organization". The journalist received a monetary fine of TL 20,000 ( 10,000). Reason for Güler's recent release is the fact that the notification was sent to the wrong address. Güler was charged with "spreading propaganda for an illegal organization" in dozens of cases. He stands furthermore accused of "praising crime and a criminal" related to a message entitled "We commemorate Mahir Çayan and his comrades with respect", published in the April 2005 issue of the "Özgür Düsün" magazine, of which he is the editor. The Istanbul 10 th High Criminal Court rejected the release of Suzan Zengin, interpreter and employee of 9 von :48

10 the İşçi Köylü newspaper by reason of the "given possibility to conceal evidence". Zengin was taken into police custody on 28 August 2009 and later on brought to the Bakırköy (Istanbul) Women and Children Prison. Her trial under allegations of "membership in an illegal organization" started on 26 August. The second hearing is scheduled for 15 February Ragıp Zarakolu, President of the Freedom of Publishing Committee of the Turkish Publishers Association (TYB), called for the release of Zengin. The Court of Appeals 9 th Circuit approved the 6 years and three months prison sentences imposed to DİHA reporters Behdin Tunç and Faysal Tunç. The journalists were detained three years earlier and the Diyarbakır 5 th High Criminal Court found both of them guilty of "assisting and abetting the PKK organization". The decision was communicated on 17 February. The journalists were arrested and detained on 5 April 2007 and are still kept in the Diyarbakır D Type Prison. DİHA reporter for the south-eastern province of Şırnak, Haydar Haykır, was taken into custody in the district of Çizre (Şırnak) on 8 January He was arrested and taken to the Batman H Type Prison four days later on 12 January. However, it has not been confirmed yet whether these detentions are related to "journalistic activities". The Istanbul 10 th High Criminal Court continued its hearing in the trial against 24 defendants accused of membership in or leadership of the illegal Marxist Leninist Communist Party (MLKP) on 10 December. Those detained include Füsun Erdoğan, the broadcasting coordinator of the Istanbul Özgür Radyo ("Free Radio") station, the editor of the Atılım newspaper, İbrahim Çiçek, and the daily's publications director Sedat Şenoğlu. The court dismissed the request for the release of the defendants who were not allowed to present their defence in the Kurdish language. The next hearing was set for 17 May. Erdoğan, Çiçek and Şenoğlu have been detained since 8 September On 24 April, the Court of Appeals approved the conviction of DIHA news agency employees Ali Buluş and Mehmet Karaaslan under charges of "membership of an illegal organization". Both convicts were arrested on 19 April 2007 and taken to the Mersin E Type Prison. DİHA Ankara reporter Emine Altınkaya was taken into custody and later on arrested together with another 40 people when she covered an event at the Ankara Youth Culture Centre on 27 November Altınkaya is being kept at the Sincan Prison and is waiting for the preparation of the indictment. Erol Zavar, former editor-in-chief of the Odak ('Focus') magazine, received a life sentence on charges of his alleged membership in the "Resistance Movement". The decision was given by the Ankara No.2 State Security Court (DGM) on 27 June Zavar went to prison on 15 January At the Sincan No.1 F Type Prison, he underwent a total of 15 operations within four years. He had almost 50 cancer tumours removed. Trials on Press Freedom and Freedom of Expression Mustafa Koyuncu, editorial manager of the Afyonkarahisar Emirdağ newspaper, was acquitted by the Emirdağ Criminal Court of First Instance on 30 December. Koyuncu was facing imprisonment and a TL 440,000 ( 220,000) compensation claim on the grounds of the article entitled "Did we have to enter the EU like that? They are abusing their position" published on 12 March Koyuncu was arrested and later on released pending trial. The journalist is tried both at the Emirdağ Criminal Court of First Instance and at the Civil Court of First Instance. He was arrested on 13 March under allegations of "insult via the media" and released pending trial one week later under the condition to publish a counterstatement. Democratic Society Congress (DTK) Co-Chair Aysel Tuğluk was sentenced to imprisonment of ten months on 30 December. On 12 March, the Erzurum Special Authority 2 nd High Criminal Court opened a trial against Tuğluk under allegations of "praising crime and a criminal" and "spreading propaganda for the PKK" based on a speech given in Doğubayazıt (Ağrı). The court postponed the pronouncement of judgement. Accordingly, the sentence will only be executed if Tuğluk commits the same kind of crime within the coming five years. On 30 December, the Peace and Democracy (BDP) Mayor of Siirt, Selim Sadak, was sentenced to ten months in jail. Sadak stood trial before the Diyarbakır 5 th High Criminal Court on charges of "making propaganda for the PKK". His conviction under Article 7/2 of the TMY was based on a speech Sadak delivered at a meeting in Silopi (Şırnak) in October He was initially sentenced to imprisonment of one year before the sentence was mitigated to ten months. The trial against writer Temel Demirer on the grounds of his statement "Hrant Dink was not killed for being Armenian, but for recognising the genocide [of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in 1915]" was continued on 30 December before the Ankara 2 nd Criminal Court of First Instance. Demirer is sued under Article 301 of the TCK ("insults" to the Turkish state). Saying "I do not let anybody call my state a murderer", Demirer tries to annul the approval for his case which was issued by Justice Minister Mehmet Ali Şahin at the administrative court. The trial will be continued on 3 March As reported on 3 December, the 1 st Civil Court of First Instance of Ankara fined the newspaper Birgün and 10 von :48

11 its columnist Fikri Sağlar for attacking the personal rights of former Chief of Staff Gen. Yaşar Büyükanıt and his wife Filiz Büyükanıt in Sağlar's column titled "Was Büyükanıt given the file?". The court accepted the suit for damages in the amount of 50,000 but ruled for a fine of The column that appeared in Birgün on May 15, 2008 had claimed that the Prime Minister had given a file to Gen. Büyükanıt, Chief of Staff at the time, regarding his wife's spending habits in the meeting that took place at Dolmabahçe Palace. The court referred to the decision of the Court of Appeals that quashed the initial verdict of the case by reason of an "insufficient investigation". The superior court had decreed against "insult" and said that the article should be assessed within the scope of press freedom. The Court of Appeals 9 th Chamber quashed the Malatya High Criminal Court's verdict for the acquittal of Kurdish singer Ferhat Tunç. Thereupon, Tunç presented his defence against the reversal of judgement at the Istanbul High Criminal Court on 28 December Tunç was tried and later on acquitted of charges of "spreading propaganda for the [illegal] Maoist Communist Party" (MKP) on the grounds of a concert at the 2 nd Nazımiye Düzgün Baba Festival on 12 August The former editorial manager and concessionaire of the Kurdish newspaper Azadiya Welat, Emine Demir, received prison terms of 138 years under charges of "spreading propaganda for the PKK". The sentence is based on articles Demir had accepted to be published in the paper. The 24-year-old journalist was convicted by the Diyarbakır 5 th High Criminal Court. The court board ruled for an 84-count sentence applying Article 314 of the Turkish Criminal Law (TCK) on "committing a crime on behalf of an organization without being a member of that organization" based on 84 items published in 2008 and 2009 that allegedly "spread propaganda for an illegal organization". The court decreed for a one year and six months punishment for each article, adding up to prison terms of 138 years. Additionally, an arrest warrant was released in Demir's name. The case against journalist Nazlı Ilıcak at the Istanbul 2 nd Criminal Court of First Instance on the grounds of alleged "insult" of Hasan Atilla Uğur, detained defendant of the Ergenekon case, "via the media" was continued on 27 December. Prosecutor Alper Tunga demanded prison terms of two years for journalist Ilıcak. The charges stem from an article entitled "Unsolved murders on the agenda once again" published in the nation-wide Sabah newspaper on 2 December She wrote: "It was said that the order to kill Rıdvan Özden, Regiment Commander of Mardin [south-east], was organized by Atilla Uğur". Ilıcak was previously convicted in both a compensation case and a criminal trial by reason of her article "The immunity of the President", in which she had described Osman Kaçmaz, President Judge of the 1 st High Criminal Court of Sincan (Ankara) as "officious". Journalist and writer Nedim Şener was acquitted on 23 December. Şener was tried before the Istanbul 2 nd Criminal Court of First Instance under allegations of "insult", the "attempt to influence a fair trial" and "violating the confidentiality of communication" on the grounds of his book "The Hrant Dink murder and the Intelligence Lies". Emrullah Özbey, owner of the News 49 ('Haber 49') newspaper published in Muş (south-eastern Turkey), is facing prison terms of two years before the Muş 2 nd Criminal Court of First Instance. He is tried on the grounds of having criticized a punishment regarding a news item about an examination for handicapped people that had been allegedly cancelled with a forged signature. The former Provincial National Education Deputy Head Sadettin Yıldırım filed the complaint against Özbey. The first hearing was held on 23 December. The trial will be continued on 25 February. Politician Mahmut Alınak was sentenced to 14 months and 17 days in prison on 22 December. The Kars High Criminal Court convicted Alınak under Article 125 of the TCK because Alınak had criticized the police for torturing a person named Tahsin Orman in Digor the previous year. The politician had called torture a "brute application". Alınak is also tried together with another 94 defendants at the Kars 2 nd Criminal Court of First Instance on charges of "spreading propaganda for a terrorist organization" because they had sent a petition in Kurdish to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to protest the closure of the pro-kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP). DTK Co-Chair Aysel Tuğluk faces prison terms of between 15 and 75 years. Prosecutor Ergun Tokgöz based his plea on twelve speeches delivered by Tuğluk on the solution for the Kurdish question. He demanded a 12-count sentence under allegations of "making propaganda for an illegal organization" and "committing a crime on behalf of an illegal organization without being a member of that organization". Adana MP Dengir Mir Mehmet Fırat from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) filed a case against journalist Hacı Boğatekin, owner of the Gerger Fırat newspaper. Boğatekin is facing a 10,000 Turkish Lira (TL) compensation claim (approx. 4,760). The case was continued on 14 December. AKP MP Fırat launched the trial on the grounds of an article entitled "Mercy Miro Mercy Piro" published on 20 September Fırat claims an "attack on his personal rights". Gerger Fırat newspaper has a circulation of a couple of hundred issues. The next hearing of the case is scheduled for 10 February von :48

12 The trial against journalist Ercan Atay, editor-in-chief of the local Batman newspaper, was started on 13 December. The charges against the journalist stem from publishing an sent by the PKK regarding a road side bomb attack in Batman on 31 July that caused the death of four human rights advocators. The was published in the daily on 8 August. The Press Council and the International Press Institute National Committee expressed their support for the journalist. Referans newspaper writer Cengiz Çandar is facing a prison sentence of between one and three years under allegations of "insulting a public servant because of his duty". The charges are based on Çandar's criticism of the fact that the secret witness of the Hrant Dink murder case was not taken to court in the hearing on 8 February. The case was heard before the Bakırköy (Istanbul) Criminal Court of First Instance on 13 December. Çandar is facing imprisonment of between one and three years. In an article entitled "Mocking Hrant and the justice" published on 9 February 2010, Çandar wrote, "Well, no justice is going to happen in that court room, it just cannot happen. The Hrant Dink murder case is being tried in such an informal manner, justice will not happen from being to free-and-easy, it cannot happen". Hasip Kaplan, Member of Parliament for Şırnak (south-eastern Turkey) for the pro-kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) stands accused of an "attack on the personal rights" of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Kaplan was facing a compensation claim of TL 20,000 ( 10,000) based on his speech delivered at an event organized by the New Cyprus Party (YKP) in Cyprus on 11 December Erdoğan's joint attorneys put forward that Kaplan's speech had contained accusations that went beyond the limits of criticism. A trial was opened against Taraf newspaper writer Neşe Düzel on the grounds of an interview she made with M. Şerif Gençdal, spokesman of the group that came to Turkey from Iraq in October In her defence, journalist Düzel stated, "We are being tried for what is deemed a crime in the world of the prosecutor's mentality". A total of 37 cases against Taraf newspaper employees were heard at the Kadıköy (Istanbul) Court on 10 December, the date of Düzel's hearing. Düzel is indicted under Article 215 of the Turkish Criminal Court (TCK) on "praising crime and a criminal". Reporter Dicle Baştürk is tried under Article 125TCK on "insult" and journalist Fırat Alkaç stands accused of the "attempt to influence a fair trial" according to Article 288. All trials are being heard before the Kadıköy 2 nd Criminal Court of First Instance. On 7 December, publisher İrfan Sancı and interpreter İsmail Yerguz were acquitted by the Istanbul 2 nd Criminal Court of First Instance. They stood trial on charges of "obscenity in their publications" based on three books of the "Sexual books" series published by Sel Publishing. The court had requested the opinion of the Prime Ministerial Board for the Protection of Children from Harmful Publications despite a report previously obtained from Galatasaray University attesting that the books were "works of literature that could not be interfered against". On 25 May, the court had obtained the academic expert report on the three works entitled "The exploits of a young Don Juan" by Guillaume Apollinaire, "Letters of a Well-Mannered and Knowledgeable Bourgeois Woman" by the French writer P.V. and Ben Mila's "The Fairy's Pendulum". It read that the books feature literature and would not constitute the basis for a conviction. The court acquitted Sancı and Yerguz according to Article 226/7 of the Turkish Criminal Court stipulating that "provided that access to children is prevented, the provisions of this Article shall not apply to scientific, artistic and literary works". The trial against Ahmet Türk, former Co-Chair of the defunct DTP, on the grounds of seven different speeches he delivered will be continued before the Diyarbakır 4 th High Criminal Court on 10 March Journalist Mustafa Kemal Çelik, executive of the Batman Post newspaper, is being litigated on charges of "praising crime and a criminal" because of an interview with the family of Mahsum Korkmaz, a militant of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) who was killed in The case was opened in December. Fehmi and Maşallah Korkmaz are also tried in the scope of the case against Çelik under Article 215 TCK. The case will be continued at the Batman 2 nd Magistrate Criminal Court on 9 March Lawyer Şiar Rişvanoğlu was be tried before the Adana 2 nd Criminal Court of First Instance in December. He is facing a compensation claim from the Ministry of the Interior on the grounds of a critic press release related to Metin Alataş, distributor of the Kurish daily Azadiya Welat who was found hung in a tree in an orange plantation in Adana in April this year. The coming hearing was set for 12 April Rişvanoğlu is also tried at the Special Authority 6 th High Criminal Court of Adana (eastern Mediterranean coast) on the grounds of his thoughts voiced in different programs Rişvanoğlu attended on ROJ TV between 1 and 3 May. In the program on 3 May, he said: "A commission has to be required to confidentially investigate all political murders in Kurdistan, all conspiracies, the massacres of the Botaş death wells, mass murders and rapes". In this case, Rişvanoğlu is facing imprisonment of up to 13.5 years according to Article 220 of the Turkish Criminal Law (TCK) under charges of "spreading propaganda for the PKK or the organization's aims". The trial was postponed to 11 January Writer Mehmet Güler and publisher Ragıp Zarakolu, official of the Belge Publishing Company are tried at the Istanbul 10 th High Criminal court on the grounds of the book "The KCK file/global state and Kurds 12 von :48

13 without a state". The defendants are charged with "publishing statements of the PKK", and "spreading PKK propaganda". The file was submitted to the Public Prosecution on 2 December for the preparation of the final speech of the prosecution. The trial will be continued on 10 March Dicle News Agency (DİHA) reporter İbrahim Açıkyer was sentenced to ten months behind bars under charges of "spreading propaganda for the PKK organization according to article 7/2 of the Anti-Terror Law (TMY). Açıkyer and another 13 defendants had been taken into police custody when they were attending a symposium organized by the Konak District Youth Parliament of the banned pro-kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) on 27 July 2006 in Izmir. In the hearing on 25 November, all 14 defendants were convicted by the Izmir 10 th High Criminal Court. On 25 November, the trial against 34 people under allegations of "spreading propaganda for the PKK" was opened. Among the defendants are Taraf newspaper writer Orhan Miroğlu, former DEP member Leyla Zana and Selim Sadak who were imposed to a ban from politics with the closure of the DTP. The prosecutor demanded prison terms of between six months and 20 years for the defendants according to Article 117 of the Political Parties Law (No. 2820). The Ankara Public Chief Prosecution reminded that the decision was also based on the decree of the Constitutional Court to ban the 34 defendants from politics. Hence, this is the second prosecution for the same action. Miroğlu was sentenced to imprisonment of two years and one month by the Ankara 11 th High Criminal Court on the grounds of speeches delivered on 25 March 2007 when he was Chairman of the DTP. That file is still pending at the Court of Appeals. A trial was opened against Hanefi Avcı on the grounds of his book "Simons in the Golden Horn" in November before the Ankara 2 nd Criminal Court of First Instance. Istanbul Deputy Chief of Police Ali Fuat Yılmazer claims that Avcı "insulted and harmed his reputation" via the media". If the indictment prepared by Public Prosecutor Abdulvahap Yaren is accepted, Avcı will be facing up to eight years and four months in prison. Avcı, former Chief of Police of Erzurum, is being detained in the Silivri Prison since 28 September in the scope of the "Revolutionary Headquarters" trial. Journalist Kemal Göktaş from Vatan newspaper will be prosecuted before the Istanbul Special Authority High Criminal Court on the grounds of his book "The Murder of Hrant Dink - Media, Judiciary, State". The Istanbul 2 nd High Criminal Court accused Göktaş of "opposing the state security" and forwarded the file to the Special Authority High Criminal Court. Milliyet newspaper reporter Namık Durukan and Günlük newspaper official Filiz Koçali were acquitted on 22 November. Durukan was litigated over his reporting about an announcement of Duran Kalkan, executive of PKK. Koçali stood trial on the grounds of her interview with Murat Karayılan, Head of the Steering Council of the Democratic Confederation of Kurdistan (KCK), the umbrella organization that includes the PKK. Both journalists stood accused of "spreading propaganda for an illegal organization" as stipulated in Article 7/2 of the Anti-Terror Act. They were each facing up to 7.5 years in prison. The Istanbul 10 th High Criminal Court decided for the defendants' acquittal. The court decided that the article was to be assessed as a news item and thus the offence of organizational propaganda was not constituted. Also journalist Filiz Koçali and newspaper official Ramazan Pekgöz from the Kurdish Günlük newspaper stood accused of the same charges on the grounds of an interview held with KCK executive Murat Karayılan. Right after Durukan's acquittal, the Istanbul 13 th High Criminal Court also acquitted defendants Koçali and Pekgöz. The Ministry of Justice recently issued permission for the prosecution of Taraf newspaper writer Rasim Ozan Kütahyalı under article 301 of the Turkish Criminal Law (TCK). The General Staff Presidency complained about the journalist on the grounds of his article entitled "You are either vile or stupid...". The ministry had previously denied permission for an investigation about Kütahyalı requested by reason of three articles published under the main title "You are not a statesman, you are a civil servant, İlker Başbuğ" (former Head of General Staff). The mayor of Batman, a province in the predominantly Kurdish south-east of the country, Nejdet Atalay, was sentenced to two years and six months in prison. Atalay was convicted on 22 November because he called imprisoned PKK leader Öcalan "respectable" and "the leader of the Kurdish people". The Diyarbakır 4 th High Criminal Court based its verdict on an interview Atalay gave to a local newspaper in Batman last year. He was charged with "spreading propaganda for the PKK organization". At the same time, Mehmet Şerif Gençdal, spokesman of the Group for a Peaceful and Democratic Solution (of the Kurdish question), received a 20-month prison sentence under the same allegations. The same court again found the defendant guilty of "spreading propaganda for an illegal organization". The allegations in this case stemmed from a speech Gençdal gave in Cizre after he had entered the country from northern Iraq via the Habur check point. In another issue, 554 police records have piled up in relation to 19 deputies of the pro-kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) by reasons of speaking Kurdish in parliament and seeking a democratic and peaceful solution for the Kurdish question. The BDP members are facing imprisonment of up to 2,473 years in total. The former co-chairs Ahmet Türk and Aysel Tuğluk of the banned Democratic Society Party (DTP) are facing prison sentences of up to years in total. After the Constitutional Court 13 von :48

14 decided for a ban of the pro-kurdish political party, the status as members of parliament was lifted for the former DTP members, including Türk and Tuğluk. Emine Ayna, BDP deputy of Mardin (south-eastern Anatolia), is one of the party's parliamentarians with the highest number of police records. The prison threat she is currently facing amounts to a total of 335 years based on 69 police records. She is closely followed by Özdal Üçer, deputy of Van (south-eastern Turkey) with 57 records and the Şırnak deputy Sevahir Bayındır. The Prosecutor of Erzincan (north-eastern Anatolia), Osman Şanal, litigates Cumhuriyet newspaper reporter İlhan Taşçı over his freshly published book "Justice in a gown" ('Cüppeli Adalet'). He filed a compensation claim against the journalist on the grounds of the book cover which features a man with a green cap and a characteristic beard in a prosecutor's gown. His complaint is based on an alleged resemblance of that person with himself and on "interjections" used in several sentences. The first hearing of the trial against Taşçı is scheduled for 27 January 2011 before the Ankara 1 st Civil Court of First Instance. Journalist Taşçı was awarded by the Turkish Journalists Society (TGC) in the field of "News- Politics" for his series entitled "The congregation could not be touched" published on 13 August Yet another trial was opened against Radikal newspaper reporter İsmail Saymaz. He is facing a TL 7,000 ( 3,500) compensation claim filed by Osman Şanal, Prosecutor of Erzurum (central Anatolia) on the grounds of his book "The Postmodern Jihad". The book deals with the Erzurum-Erzincan connections of the Ergenekon investigation. Şanal was appointed "Press Prosecutor' after his special authority had been lifted. He was described as a "supporter of postmodernism" in Saymaz's book. Meanwhile, journalist Saymaz has a total of 12 trials pending against him and faces up to 97 years in jail in total. Taraf newspaper writer and Kurdish politician Orhan Miroğlu is facing yet another trial because of his article "I cannot sleep with the waxing moon" published in the nation-wide daily on 2 November The indictment prepared by the Kadıköy (Istanbul) Chief Prosecution seeks Miroğlu's prosecution under charges of inciting the public to hatred and hostility. He wrote, "The truth is that Kurds and Turks started to be afraid of each other. Maybe it is the first time in history that the Turks are that much afraid of Kurds after an age-long rebellion. In the end, they sent them to boroughs and villages in the Aegean region and Anatolia on trucks and by train together with their families regardless if young or old". The first hearing is scheduled for 3 March 2011 before the Kadıköy 2 nd Criminal Court of First Instance. Sociologist İsmail Beşikçi and lawyer Zeycan Balcı Şimşek appeared before the Istanbul 11 th High Criminal Court for the second time on 12 November. Both defendants stand accused of "spreading propaganda for the PKK". Şimşek is the editorial manager of the "Contemporary Law and Society" magazine as the publication of the Contemporary Lawyers Association (ÇHD) Istanbul Branch. Beşikçi wrote an article for the magazine entitled "The right of nations to self determination and the Kurds". In Friday's hearing, the prosecutor put forward that Beşikçi wrote the word "Qandil" with a "q" instead of "k". Both un-detained defendants are each facing up to 7.5 years in jail. More than 50 lawyers take care of their defence. The trial is being observed by human rights advocators and journalist organizations. The final decision is expected for 4 March Journalists Neşe Düzel and Editor-in-Chief Adnan Demir of the Taraf newspaper are facing prison sentences of 7.5 years each on the grounds of interviews with Zübeyir Aydar and Remzi Kartal, executives of Kongra Gel, a parliament-like structure of the KCK. The first hearing was held before the Istanbul 11 th High Criminal Court on 10 November. The interview lead by Düzel was published in three parts on 5-7 April 2010 and entitled "A period of conflict was entered". The Istanbul Public Prosecutor, Hakan Karaali, put forward that "the contents of the interviews imply to the readers that resorting to violence was a necessary and rightful measure". The Istanbul Public Chief Prosecution prepared an indictment on journalist and writer Hıncal Uluç under charges of defamation according to Article 125 of the Turkish Criminal Court (TCK). Uluç is accused of alleged insult of Adnan Sezgin via the media. Adnan is sports director at the renowned Galatasaray football club. Should the indictment be accepted by the Istanbul Magistrate Criminal Court, the journalist would face imprisonment of between three months and two years because of his article published in the "Photomatch" newspaper. The 1 st Criminal Court of First Instance of Silivri (west of Istanbul) convicted Hakan Taştan and Turan Topal of "illegally registering personal data". Both un-detained defendants had been arrested and tried because of alleged missionary activities for Protestantism. Taştan and Topal were acquitted of charges of "inciting hatred and hostility" and "insulting 'Turkishness'" under which they had been facing prison sentences of up to four years each according to the Turkish Criminal Law (TMY). The case file of Taştan and Topal was one out of 73 files that were granted permission for an investigation and prosecution by former Minister of Justice Mehmet Ali Şahin. The court acquitted both defendants of charges related to Article 216 on "inciting hatred and hostility amongst the public and humiliation of the public" and Article 301criminalizing "Insulting the Turkish People, Republic of Turkey and Governmental Institutions and Bodies" by reason of "lack of definite and convincing evidence". However, the defendants received a nine-month prison sentence each since they were found guilty of charges of "registering personal data". 14 von :48

15 Due to a lack of criminal record, the penalties were mitigated to seven months and 15 days each. Subsequently, the sentences were converted into monetary fines of TL 4,500 ( 2,250) each, taking into account the defendants' remorse throughout the trial period regarding "their personal, social and economic situation". Taraf newspaper writer Rasim Ozan Kütahyalı was sentenced to a monetary fine of TL 14,000 ( 7,000) in compensation on the grounds of calling Canan Arıtman, Izmir Deputy of the Republican People's Party (CHP) "racist-fascist". The decision of the Kadıköy (Istanbul) Civil Court of First Instance was communicated on 8 November. In his article published in Taraf on 25 November 2009, Kütahyalı wrote, "(...) What does it mean that the racist-fascist Izmir deputy of the CHP is that popular?" On 22 May 2009, people in Izmir had thrown stones at a convoy of the now banned pro-kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP), including former Co-chair Ahmet Türk. Eleven people were injured in the incident. Several people filed a complaint against Kütahyalı and Cemal saying that the city was associated with 'fascism', namely the Izmir Provincial General Assembly President, CHP member Serdar Değirmenci, and assembly member and artist of the Izmir State Classic Turkish Music Choir İdris Ercan. The trial is still pending. On 4 November, the Diyarbakır 4 th High Criminal Court decided for the acquittal of Kurdish singer Ferhat Tunç. Charges of "spreading propaganda for an illegal organization" and "committing a crime on behalf of a terrorist organization" had been pressed against the artist on the grounds of his statement made at the 1 st Eruh-Çirav Nature and Culture Arts Festival (south-eastern province of Siirt) on 15 August Tunç was sued under Article 220/6 of the Turkish Criminal Court and Article 7/2 of the Anti-Terror Law. He was facing 15 years behind bars. The Kurtalan Criminal Court of First Instance handed down a five-month prison sentence to Nejdet Atalay, Mayor of Batman and member of the pro-kurdish BDP. He was convicted because he spoke Kurdish at the opening ceremony of an election office in Kurtalan on 17 February Ali Suat Ertosun, member of the Judges and Prosecutors Supreme Council (HSYK) and former Prisons and Arrest Stations General Manager, filed a compensation claim against Taylan Tanay, official of the Contemporary Lawyers Association (ÇHD), and bianet website co-ordinator Ertuğrul Kürkçü. The first hearing of the case was held on 2 November. Ertosun claims TL 15,000 ( 7,500) for an alleged attack on his personal rights based on the article entitled "Ali Suat Ertosun's place is not in the HSYK but in the dock", published on 31 July The trial is heard before the Ankara 25 th Civil Court of First Instance. The court postponed the case for two weeks to allow Ertosun's attorney time for the revision of the rebuttal petition submitted by the defence lawyer of defendant Tanay. At the same time, court president Judge Gürkan Ahmet Gençkaya is awaiting a reply from the Kağıthane (Istanbul) District Police Directorate. Procedural objections will be heard in the coming hearing on 27 January Ali Suat Ertosun filed another compensation claim against ÇHD President Selçuk Kozğaçlı. Lawyer Kozağaçlı had harshly criticized the reward of the Medal for Public Service to Ertosun, saying that he was responsible for the death of 30 detainees in the course of prison operations. Kozağaçlı is tried at the Ankara 9 th Magistrate Criminal Court. Additionally, he faces a monetary fine of TL 25,000 ( 12,500) in compensation in the scope of the case heard at the Ankara 21st Civil Court of First Instance. The latter case will be continued on 8 March The next hearing of the other trial is scheduled for 17 February Erdal Güler, the owner and editor of the Devrimci Demokrasi ('Revolutionary Democracy') periodical, was released after three years in prison on charges of writing articles praising organisations such as the Maoist Communist Party (MKP). His trial before the Istanbul 10 th High Criminal Court is still pending. The coming hearing will be held on 3 February Güler is prosecuted under Article 7 of the Anti-Terror Law because of the 37 th issue of the newspaper published in March He will also appear at court in the scope of another trial under the same allegations on 19 April Cem Büyükçakır, founder and publications director of the HaberinYeri.net website, was sentenced to imprisonment of eleven months because of a readers comment that implied that President Abdullah Gül was of Armenian origin. The comment was removed from the site upon a warning. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan filed a lawsuit against Hürriyet newspaper and the nation-wide daily's editor-in-chief Oktay Ekşi on the grounds of the column entitled "We have not been as critical as we should". The article criticized the government's policies on the construction of the Hydroelectric Power Plants (HES) in the Ikizdere Valley in the eastern Black Sea region. The column was published on 28 October The petition claims an "attack on PM Erdoğan's personal rights and moral personality" and seeks compensation of TL 100,000 ( 50,000) including interest. After the publication of the article on subject, Ekşi issued a short note of apology and resigned as chief editor. The trial will start on 15 February PM Erdoğan and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) are pressing charges against poet and writer Ataol Behramoğlu. The compensation claim stems from Behramoğlu's statements voiced on 15 von :48

16 television. The writer is prosecuted over his utterances made as a guest of the program "Neural Zone" ('Tarafsız Bölge') broadcasted on the Turkish news channel CNN Türk on 12 January The trial will be continued before the Ankara 15 th Civil Court of First Instance on Semra Pelek, former editor of Akşam newspaper, and Mustafa Dolu, the daily's editor-in-chief, appeared at court on 1 November in the scope of the case filed against them by retired General İbrahim Fırtına, former Air Forces Commander. Both journalists stand trial on the grounds of a news article about Fırtına's statement given to the prosecution in the context of the "Ergenekon Investigation". Pelek is tried for editing the article entitled ""Questions to Fırtına from Aydın Doğan, Rahmi Koç and Akçakoca" published on 5 January The article was continued on page 16 of the same issue under the heading "I reject, I curse". The Bakırköy (Istanbul) 2 nd Criminal Court of First Instance postponed the case to 29 March 2011 when Pelek is going to present her defence. Public Prosecutor Pircan Barut Emre prepared the indictment on 1 March. He demands prison sentences of up to eight years each for both journalists. The indictment is based on two articles of the Turkish Criminal Code (TCK), i.e. Article 285 on "Violation of communications" and Article 288 regarding an "attempt at affecting a fair judicial process". Dolu submitted his defence in writing to the court at the beginning of the trial. He put forward that he was not responsible for the news item and pointed to page editor Pelek. Taraf newspaper reporter Mehmet Baransu is facing imprisonment under charges of "disclosing information related to the security and political interests of the state". The charges are based on the news item entitled "Aslan Pasha's guilty ears" published on 30 August The indictment seeks prison terms of between five to ten years under article 329 of the Turkish Criminal Law (TCK) on "Disclosure of information relating to the security and political interests of the State". The news item in the nation-wide daily read that Deputy Chief of General Staff, Aslan Güner, had "signed a scandalizing procedure" in his time on duty as Lieutenant General at the Intelligence Office Presidency in It was furthermore said that the General Staff Electronic Systems (GES) purchased from Israel with the alleged purpose to "wiretap members of the [militant] Kurdistan Workers Party [PKK]" was actually bought to eavesdrop on high-profile people. The 2 nd Criminal Court of First Instance in Gaziantep (eastern Mediterranean) handed down a three-month prison sentence to journalist Murat Güreş on 12 October. He was found guilty of "insult via the media" of Ömer Küsbeoğlu, President of the Union of Chambers of Tradesmen and Craftsmen. On 12 October, the court decreed to convert the prison sentence into a monetary fine of TL 3,480 (approx. 1,750). He has to pay a further TL 1,000 ( 500) for the attorney's fee. Güreş is the editorial manager of the Gaziantep Hakimiyet newspaper ('Gaziantep Sovereignty') from Gaziantep at the eastern tip of the Mediterranean coast. He was convicted according to Article 125 of the Turkish Criminal Law (TCK). In the article entitled "Küsbeoğlu's political dump" published on 18 January 2010, Güreş criticized the administrative attitude which he claimed to be stemming from Küsbeoğlu as a member of the steering board of the Chamber of Tradesmen. A trial regarding a TL 20,000 ( 10,000) compensation claim filed by Küsbeoğlu against Güreş is stil pending before the Gaziantep Criminal Court of First Instance. The Diyarbakır 6 th High Criminal Court continued the trial against former DEP MP Leyla Zana on 12 October. On 21 March 2007, the Kurdish politician had delivered a speech at the Newroz celebrations and had called Jalal Talabani, the current President of Iraq and a leading Kurdish politician, Massoud Barzani, current President of the pre-dominantly Kurdish region of northern Iraq and leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, and imprisoned PKK leader Öcalan the "three leaders of the Kurdish people". The Court of Appeals reversed the previous judgement of the local court. Zana had received a prison sentence of two years based on charges of "spreading propaganda for a terrorist organization". Now, the court re-tries Zana's case. The case had initially been filed under charges of "acting on behalf of and membership of a terrorist organization" according to article 7 of the Anti-Terror Law. In the course of the trial, charges of "praising crime and a criminal" were additionally pressed against Zana because of statements made in her defence speech. However, Zana was acquitted of the latter charges. The Diyarbakır 4 th High Criminal Court sentenced Kurdish Politician Hatip Dicle to imprisonment of one year and eight months by reason of praising incarcerated PKK leader Öcalan. Dicle is a former deputy of the dissolved Democracy Party (DEP) and the former Co-Chair of the Democratic Society Congress (DTK). The court convicted Dicle under article 7/2 of the Anti-Terror Law (TMY) on "spreading propaganda for a terrorist organization". His lawyer Feride Laçin explained that her client is being tried in the scope of the KCK case anyways on the grounds of his opinion on the Kurdish question voiced in front of his electorate in Bingöl (south-eastern Turkey) in 2009 and because of other actions from the past. The case against human rights advocator Hakan Tahmaz and journalist İbrahim Çeşmecioğlu from the Birgün newspaper has reached its final stage. Tahmaz and Çeşmecioğlu are facing imprisonment of up to three years each on the grounds of an interview with executives of the militant Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) held on the Qandil Mountain, the location of the PKK's base in Northern Iraq. The interview was published in the Birgün daily on 9 August The trial was continued on 12 October at the Istanbul 10 th High Criminal Court. Both defendants stand accused of "publishing statements of PKK/KONGRAGEL" 16 von :48

17 according to article 6/2 of the Anti-Terror Act (TMY). Reason for the prosecution is the interview entitled "Unilateral Ceasefire Amplifies the Problem". A final decision of the case is expected for 24 March Star newspaper reporter Helin Şahin is prosecuted together with the daily's editor-in-chief, İbrahim Sarp, and the editor of the paper's website, Saffet Serdar Akbıyık, on the grounds of the criticism of a mass release regarding the "Sledgehammer" case voiced in a news item. The first hearing of the case was held before the Istanbul 14 th High Criminal Court on 8 October. Şahin's request for the recusal of Judge Erkan Çanak was dismissed due to "lack of evidence". It was decided to hear litigant jugdesyılmaz Alp and Tuncay Aslan as witnesses. They complained about Şahin because of a news item on mass releases in the scope of the "Sledghehammer" trial. The first hearing of the case against Ahmet Şık and Ertuğrul Mavioğlu, co-authors of the two volumes "Understanding the counter guerrilla and Ergenekon" and "Who is who in Ergenekon" was held before the Kadıköy (Istanbul) 2 nd Criminal Court of First Instance on 8 October. Both journalists are facing prison sentences of up to 4.5 years under charges of "violation the secrecy of an investigation". Both defendants presented their defence. They are indicted under Article 285 of the Turkish Criminal Law (TCK) on "violation of communications". The court decided to inquire the Bakırköy Public Prosecution in order to determine the date of printing. The case was postponed to 21 January After the first hearing on 7 September of the case against journalist Aziz Özer, the Public Prosecutor is going to prepare his final speech for the second hearing. Özer, editorial manager of the Güney magazine, is charged with "spreading propaganda for the PKK on the grounds of a caricature and a story about an armed conflict depicted from the view of a PKK member. The Istanbul 9 th High Criminal Court prosecutes Özer by reason of on the article entitled "The story of an incredible three-day resistance" written by Mehmet Söğüt and a short picture story called "The Judge" by Meray Ülgen, published in the 51 st issue of the magazine from January-February-March The Istanbul Public Prosecutor, Hakan Karaali, opened the case on 11 May under article 7/2 of the Anti-Terror Law (TMY). He demanded prison sentence of 7.5 years for the journalist. The case was postponed to 17 February Abdurruhman Saran, Provincial Chair of the Labour Party (EMEP) in Aydın, was acquitted of charges of "praising crime and a criminal" at the first hearing of this case on 7 October. Saran was indicted on the grounds of his works in the run-up to the local elections, attending the Newroz celebrations and a commemoration ceremony for leftist revolutionary Deniz Gezmiş on 6 May. The Aydın 2 nd Magistrate Criminal Court acquitted Saran of allegations of "agitating a crowd on behalf of a terrorist organization" and "praising Abdullah Öcalan". In the past, the politician was sentenced to imprisonment of six months by the Aydın 1 st Criminal Court of First Instance. The conviction was based on a breach of the Elections Law because he had posted a banner. The file is pending at the Court of Appeals. The Ankara 11 th High Criminal Court decided to bring Kurdish politician Sebahat Tuncel to court on compulsion. The BDP Istanbul MP stands accused of "praising crime and a criminal" in a brochure that was distributed in the BDP Women Assembly Office. At the hearing on 7 October, Court President Hasan Şatır announced that Tuncel's address was registered as unknown. Tuncel is being prosecuted together with another 22 members of the DTP women assembly under Article 215 of the TCK. The trial will continue on 11 February Haldun Açıksözlü, actor and director of the theatre play "Laz Marks" is sued under allegations of "insulting the prime minister" in the play. He is facing prison terms of up to two years and eight month. The show has been on stage for one year in cooperation with Leman Culture and 'Canşenlik' Actors. The Rize Magistrate Criminal Court will continue the trial on 3 February Additionally, three investigations have been launched about Açıksözlü. The Istanbul 14 th High Criminal Court acquitted Taraf newspaper reporter Mehmet Baransu on 6 October. Public Prosecutor Mustafa Çavuşoğlu pleaded for prison sentence because Baransu had published allegedly "confidential" documents regarding the Aktütün raid. The journalist was prosecuted under article 329/1 of the Turkish Criminal Code (TCK) on "Disclosure of information relating to the security and political interests of the State" on the grounds of publishing "classified" documents. Baransu announced that on 7 October his lawyer was going to file a criminal complaint on his behalf about Generals İlker Başbuğ and Hasan Iğsız, then Chief and Deputy Chief of General Staff respectively, in regard to the raid. Baransu stood accused of publishing immediate data from reports of the General Staff Presidency in his articles entitled "The Aktütün Secrets" and "What was experienced to the minute at the General Staff" published on 13 April It was claimed that the articles contain "documents with a classified status related to national security". On 3 October, the Uludere Criminal Court of First Instance handed down a prison sentence of six months to the Mayor of Uludere, Şükran Sincar, because of a speech in Kurdish in the run-up to the local elections. The court announced to postpone the sentence on a five-year probation period. Sincar appealed the decision saying that the next elections were ahead and that she was going to address her electorate in 17 von :48

18 Kurdish again. The Co-chair of the pro-kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), Selahattin Demirtaş, was convicted of "propaganda for an illegal organization" and received a ten-month prison sentence. Demirtaş, then Diyarbakır branch president of the Human Rights Foundation, was punished for a statement he made about the detention conditions of Abdullah Öcalan. In the hearing on 28 September, the Diyarbakır High Criminal Court initially handed down a one-year prison sentence which was then mitigated to ten months. The pronouncement of judgement was postponed. Additionally, the court decided for the suspension of sentence on probation of five years. Demirtaş had previously been convicted of "praising crime and a criminal" and received a prison sentence of one year and three months. The Court of Appeal reversed the decision and requested Demirtaş' prosecution over charges of "propaganda for an illegal organization". A total of 44 cases against Taraf newspaper employees were heard at the Kadıköy (Istanbul) 2 nd High Criminal Court of First Instance on 10 December. Four new trials were opened on charges of "violating secrecy" and "insult via written messages". General Publications Director Ahmet Altan said in his defence: "The prosecutor does either not read my writings at all or he is prejudiced". His assistant Yasemin Çongar is being sued on charges of "violating secrecy"; editorial manager Adnan Demir is charged with the "attempt to influence a fair trial", "disclosure of visuals and audible material related to private life", "violation of secrecy", "praising crime and a criminal", "not publishing a disclaimer" and "insulting the memory of Atatürk". Journalist Neşe Düzel is charged with "praising crime and a criminal", Markar Eseyan, Melih Altınok, Mehmet Baransu, Burhan Ekinci, Fikret Karagöz and Bünyamin Demirkan stand accused of "violation of secrecy", Yıldıray Oğur is alleged of "insulting the memory of Atatürk", Şahin Bahar of "violating secrecy", Tuncer Köseoğlu of "violation of secrecy" and "influencing the judiciary", Rasim Ozan Kütahyalı of "insult", Emre Uslu of the "attempt to influence a fair trial", Bahar Kılıçgedik of "violation of secrecy", the "attempt to influence a fair trial" and "insult via a written, visual or voice message", Adnan Keskin of "insult" and "insult via a written, visual or voice message", Nevzat Çiçek of "insult" and "insult via a written, visual or voice message" and Sibel Hürtaş of the "attempt to influence a fair trial", "violation of secrecy" and "influencing the judiciary". The Istanbul 11 th High Criminal Court started the prosecution against Zaman newspaper reporter Büşra Erdal, Ankara correspondent Metin Arslan and responsible editor Hayri Beşer on 22 September. The journalists are tried on the grounds of news articles regarding decisions for the release of detained defendants of the "Ergenekon" and "Sledgehammer" Investigations. Judges of the Istanbul 9 th High Criminal Court Yılmaz Alp and Tuncay Aslan filed a criminal complaint against the journalists by reason of their news about the decisions of release. Erdal, Arslan and Beşer are indicted under Article 6/1 of the Anti-Terror Law (TMY) on "identifying officials on anti-terror duties as targets for terrorist organizations". They are facing imprisonment of between 1.5 and 4.5 years. The current case is based on Erdal's news item entitled "The ones appointed in the HSYK crisis intervened - the Sledgehammer investigation is covered up" published on 2 April 2010 and the article "Mass releases were based on 'pirate' decree" dated 3 April The request for lack of jurisdiction submitted by Erdal's lawyer Hasan Günaydın was dismissed by the court. Erdal put forward that she had not been able to prepare her defence since she recently graduated from the faculty of law and because of the high number of cases filed against her. She requested additional time for her defence. Her request was accepted and the case was adjourned to 2 February Zaman newspaper reported that the number of investigations launched by the Ministry of Justice increased from 4,139 in November 2009 to a current total number of more than 5,000 throughout the past six months. More than 3,500 of these investigations were opened against Zaman, Taraf, Bugün, Yeni Şafak, Star and Vakit newspapers. According to Zaman, about 2,000 investigations resulted in trials. On 23 September, it was reported that Haber Türk newspaper reporter Cemal Doğan and Hürriyet newspaper photo reporter Nurettin Kurt were acquitted in the case regarding their coverage of an alleged assassination plot against Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç. They had published the picture of a Colonel on his way to the prosecution to give his statement in the context of the assassination plot. The journalists were facing imprisonment of up to three years each at the Istanbul Special Authority 11 th High Criminal Court. They were charged with "showing public officials as targets for terrorist organizations" according to article 6 of the Anti-Terror Law. The court ruled that both journalists acted within the scope of their duties of journalism and the aim to inform. The article entitled "What is the duty of the District Governor in Çine?" written by Yılmaz Sağlık, publication director of the Çine Uğur newspaper, is subject to a trial. The Çine District Governor, Celalettin Cantürk, filed a compensation claim against the newspaper. The daily is facing a compensation claim of TL 10,000 ( 5,000). In the article the district governor was accused of turning a blind eye to corruption in the district. The petition of complaint was submitted to court on 27 September. The litigation against ten defendants, among them Aysel Tuğluk, former Diyarbakır Deputy of the dissolved pro-kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP), and Mehmet Ali Birand, journalist and lawyer of Abdullah Öcalan, was postponed to 1 February The trial was continued before the Istanbul 9 th High Criminal Court on 21 September. The court decided to wait for the execution of the arrest warrant issued 18 von :48

19 upon lawyer Mahmut Şakar. Different files against Tuğluk tried at the Istanbul 9 th, 11 th and 14 th High Criminal Court were merged at the 9 th Criminal Court. The Kurdish politician had received a prison sentence of one year and six months and an occupational ban as a lawyer. However, the Court of Appeals overruled the punishment. In the current case, Tuğluk is tried together with DTP Deputy Ayla Ata Akat, and Mehmet Ali Birand, producer at the Turkish television station Kanal D. A total of ten people are involved in the trial, including Tuğluk, Ata, lawyer Mahmut Şakar, İrfan Dündar, Doğan Erbaş and Hatice Korkut. They are prosecuted over a joint letter entitled "A letter to the government" published in the Yeniden Özgür Gündem newspaper between March 2003 and February The charges are furthermore based on the news items "Peace Call from Öcalan" and "I will defend the South-East", "Let's kill all joy" published in the Özgür Politika newspaper, "A message like a threat from Imralı to the summit" published in Milliyet newspaper, "Some tragedies might come" in the Yeni Binyıl magazine, "The whistling continues" in Hürriyet newspaper and news items published in Gözcü newspaper, Akit, Türkiye, the Kanal D Main News Bulletin and the Nasname internet site. The defendants are indicted under article 220/7 of the Turkish Criminal Law on "knowing and willingly aiding and abetting an illegal organization as part of the hierarchical structure of the organization" and article 314/2 TCK on "membership in an armed organization". Article 220/7 foresees imprisonment of up to three years, article 314/2 demands prison sentence of up to ten years. The Turkish folk music artist Pınar Sağ stands trial at the Tunceli Magistrate Criminal Court under allegations of having praised Ibrahim Kaypakkaya, founder of the Communist Party of Turkey/Marxist Leninist (TKP/ML)-TİKKO organization, at the Traditional 9 th Munzur Nature and Culture Festival in Tunceli. The trial will be continued on 27 January The singer is also tried for her saying, "Let the armed conflicts on our mountains end, peace should come and nobody should die" at the Düzgün Baba Festival in the Nazimiye district of Tunceli (eastern Anatolia) last year. On 14 September, the Diyarbakır 5 th High Criminal Court acquitted 54 mayors, former members of the closed-down pro-kurdish Democratic Society Party (BDP), who stood accused of "spreading propaganda for the PKK terror organization". They were tried under article 220/8 of the Turkish Criminal Law (TCK) on the grounds of calling the PKK the "Kurdish opposition". The mayors were facing imprisonment of up to 4.5 years. The file was transferred to the High Criminal Court after the Diyarbakır 2 nd Magistrate Court had decided for a lack of jurisdiction. The current Diyarbakır Metropolitan Mayor, Osman Baydemir, was among the defendants as well as the Mayor of Sur, Abdullah Demirbaş, the former Mayor of Tunceli, Songül Erol Abdil, the former Mayor of Hakkari, Metin Tekçe, the former Mayor of Şırnak, Ahmet Ertak, and the former Mayor of Batman, Hüseyin Kalkan. Radikal newspaper reporters Serkan Ocak and Ertan Kılıç face imprisonment of up to 17 years each on the grounds of their news about the "Sledgehammer coup plan". The stand accused of "violating confidentiality via the media", "attempting to influence a fair trial" and "obtaining and disclosing confidential information" because of their news item entitled "Were you going to overthrow the government?" published on 25 February The prosecution started on 14 September at the Bakırköy 2 nd Criminal Court of First Instance and will be continued on 28 April The Court of Appeals 7 th Chamber unanimously quashed the verdict against Kurdish politician Mahmut Alınak who had previously been sentenced to six months in jail. The chamber referred to the Criminal Procedural Law that includes the possibility of "postponing the pronouncement of a judgement" according to an amendment of law no The superior court requested the Kars 1 st Criminal Court of First Instance to consider this regulation and re-evaluate the case. The Court of Appeal's decision was given on 15 June but was only reported on 16 September. Alınak said, "I received prison sentences of 1.5 years in total in the scope of three trials opened against me on the grounds of Kurdish petitions", he explained. One decision was overturned, the other two are still pending at the Court of Appeals. In total, I was handed down prison sentences summing up to 8.5 years, all files are pending at the Court of Appeals". Vakit newspaper journalist Abdurrahman Dilipak was acquitted of charges of an "attack on the personal rights of the former President Ahmet Necdet Sezer in one of his articles. With a majority of two votes, the Court of Appeals General Criminal Board returned the file to the Bağcılar 2 nd Criminal Court of First Instance. A trial was opened before the Istanbul 13 th High Criminal Court against Radikal newspaper reporter Ismail Saymaz on the grounds of his article entitled "Love games in Ergenekon - The Ergenekon prosecutor also took the judge's statement" published on 8 June. As reported on 8 September, the complaint for the latest trial was filed by the President of the Istanbul 13 th High Criminal Court, Köksal Şengün. The journalist had reported about the technical surveillance of Kadır Özbek, Deputy President of the Supreme Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK). The journalist is tried under allegations of "insult", "violation of the secrecy of an investigation" and the "attempt to influence a fair trial" according to articles 125, 285, and 288 respectively of the Turkish Criminal Law (TCK). He is facing prison terms of up to 70 years. The first hearing is scheduled for 28 January von :48

20 The Court of Appeals 9 th Criminal Chamber approved the sentences imposed on 56 mayors, 54 of whom are members of the pro-kurdish DTP, as reported on 8 September. The 56 mayors were sentenced to imprisonment of three months each by the Diyarbakır 5 th High Criminal Court on 15 April They had sent a joint letter to Anders Fogh Rasmussen, then Prime Minister of Denmark, requesting not to close down the satellite channel Roj TV. The mayors were convicted of "praising crime and a criminal" and sentenced to three months imprisonment each. The court punished the defendants according to article 215 of the Turkish Criminal Law (TCK) (praising crime and a criminal) and mitigated the sentences to two months and 15 days. The penalties were converted into a monetary fine of 875 YTL (approx. 435) to be paid by each defendant based on article 52/ 2 of the TCK. Three mayors were acquitted, among them one DTP member and two members of the Social Democratic Populist Party (SHP). Journalist Nurgün Balcıoğlu eventually avoided litigation over a TL 20,000 ( 10,000) compensation claim filed by retired judge Zekeriya Dilsizoğlu, as reported on 7 September. Balcıoğlu had initially been sentenced to pay the compensation which was filed because of her criticizing the judge for his statement that "Of every 10,000 murder trials, 9,000 are due to women." Ziya Çiçekçi, concessionaire and editor-in-chief of the Günlük and Açılım newspapers, received a prison sentence of eight years and seven months and a monetary fine of TL 16,000 ( 8,000) on charges of "spreading propaganda for the PKK organization" and "publishing PKK announcements". The conviction is based on news items, articles and photographs published in The file is pending at the Court of Appeals. The case was initially launched on the grounds of the article entitled "Glorious Final" and the referring photograph published in the Günlük newspaper on 1 June The picture showed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan and read, "The dream of this people will come true". Another trial was opened under allegations of "propaganda for an illegal organization" stemming from the articles "One must say 'Stop' to the operations" and "PKK; PeKeKe or PeKaKa?" written by Hüseyin Ali and published on 2 June The newspaper's General Publications Director, Filiz Koçali, was acquitted related to the 2 June article. Çiçekçi on the other hand was sentenced to 1.5 years imprisonment. The file was brought before the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) together with an application regarding a one-month publishing ban. The Istanbul 11 th High Criminal Court handed down prison terms of 2.5 years to Çiçekçi by reason of the article "Obama seen from the place I stopped" by Delil Karakoçan published on 10 April Newspaper editor Yüksel Genç was acquitted in a case opened by reason of an interview with Essa Moosa, the lawyer of Nelson Mandela, and of the article "One outcome of the elections" by Veysi Sarısözen. Retired Brigadier General Korkmaz Tağma sued Günlük newspaper on charges of "insult" on the grounds of an article about peasant Necmi Çaçan from the Düzcealan village (south-eastern city of Bitlis) who allegedly died of torture. Melih Aşık, columnist for Milliyet newspaper, was acquitted of charges of insult against Ali Uluduru, Civil Aviation General Manager on the grounds of the column entitled "Red telephone" published on 24 July In a paragraph entitled "What has Binali done?" Aşık had criticized Transportation Minister Binali Yıldırm because he had not responded to Tarhan's complaint regarding Uluduru's demand for $ 800,000 for the flight licence for his company. On 30 July, it was reported that the daily's writer and responsible editor Hasan Çakkalkurt was acquitted regarding another issue by the Ankara 2 nd Criminal Court of First Instance. As reported on 25 July, Fehmi Kılıç, editorial manager of the Revolutionary Movement ('Devrimci Hareket') magazine, received a prison sentence of one year and three months from the Istanbul 13 th High Criminal Court on the grounds of praising members of the Revolutionary Path ('Devrimci Yol') organization, namely Veysel Güney, Behçet Dinlerer and Ali Başpınar, in the magazine's writings. The court decided the case on 1 July but announced the reasoned decision only recently. The articles subject to the sentence were entitled "Behçet Dinlerer is the revolutionary path", "Following Ali Başpınar" and "We cherish Veysel Güney". The punishment was based on an evaluation report about the Revolutionary Path organization sent by the Ministry of the Interior on 9 February. The report of the ministry stated, "After having passed through several stages, the organization carried on under the name of 'Revolutionary Movement'. For their actions they used the signature Dev-Yol to show that they were the continuation of the 'Revolutionary Path' terror organization". The Ministry of Justice did not issue permission for a further prosecution of Sarkis Seropyan, concessionaire of the Armenian Agos newspaper, and Arat Dink, editorial manager of the Armenian daily regarding a trial due to Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink's recognizing the events in 1915 as genocide. The 2 nd Criminal Court of First Instance of Şişli (Istanbul) had sentenced Dink and Seropyan to imprisonment of one year each on 11 October 2007 because they had been found responsible of publishing the related contents. The penalty was postponed due to a lack of criminal record. It was reported that 553 trials are pending against Zaman, 300 against Star newspaper, Yeni Şafak newspaper is facing 95 cases and Vakit daily 200 trials. The number of investigations launched by the Ministry of Justice increased throughout the past six months from 4,139 in November 2009 to a total number of more than 5,000 by end of July More than 3,500 of these investigations were opened against Zaman, Taraf, Bugün, Yeni Şafak, Star and Vakit newspapers. About 2,000 investigations 20 von :48