Trial of Turkey opposition newspaper staff resumes
Cumhuriyet THE controversial trial of staff from Turkey’s main opposition newspaper resumed yesterday in a case seen as a test for press freedom under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The case, which opened in Istanbul in July, involves 17 current and former writers, cartoonists and executives from Cumhuriyet (“Republic”) who are being tried on “terror” charges in a move denounced by supporters as absurd.
For government critics, the case is emblematic of the erosion of freedom following last year’s failed coup when Ankara launched a massive crackdown targeting those with alleged links to the putschists as well as opponents.
The secular daily is one of the few voices in the Turkish media to oppose Erdogan, with its embarrassing scoops causing anger in the halls of power.
On July 28, an Istanbul court freed seven of the newspaper’s staff after 271 days, including respected cartoonist Musa Kart and Turhan Gunay, editor of the books supplement.
But some of the paper’s most prominent staff remain in custody, among them commentator Kadri Gursel, investigative journalist Ahmet Sik, editor-inchief Murat Sabuncu and chief executive Akin Atalay.
Eight other suspects have also been charged but are not being held in jail.
Sik has been behind bars for 255 days while the other three have been jailed for 316 days. If convicted, they face varying terms of up to 43 years in jail.
Sik is the author of an explosive 2011 book called The Imam’s Army which exposed how followers of influential Muslim preacher Fethullah Gulen infiltrated the Turkish bureaucracy and built ties with the ruling party.
Once a close ally of Erdogan who is now in self-imposed exile in the United States, Gulen is wanted on charges of ordering the failed July coup, with Ankara arresting more than 50,000 people on suspicion of links to his movement. He denies the charges.
The second session of hearings is tak- ing place next to the high-security Silivri prison on the outskirts of Istanbul where the men are being held.
Christophe Deloire, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) secretary general, said the journalists “are judged simply because they embody the journalism worthy of its name in Turkey and they do not broadcast the propoganda of the Erdogan regime”.
“We must not abandon Turkish journalists,” he said outside court.
Those on trial are charged with using their position to support the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), the ultra-left Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C), and the Gulen movement.