Journalist sentenced to prison over Paradise Papers

Pelin Unker says the complainants acknowledged that her articles were true. Turkish ex-PM ‘defamed’ though he acknowledged veracity of reporting

Turkish journalist Pelin Unker has been sentenced to jail over the Paradise Papers investigation after being found to have defamed her country’s former prime minister and two of his sons.

An Istanbul court sentenced the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists’ member to imprisonment for 13 months for “defamation and insult.”

In 2017, the ICIJ co-ordinated the Paradise Papers investigation, bringing together more than 90 news organizations from around the world, including the Star, to expose the secret offshore holdings of the global elite.

Unker, who reported that former prime minister Binali Yildirim and his sons owned companies in Malta in the Turkish newspaper Cumhuriyet, was also fined $1,615 (U.S.). Prime minister from May 2016 to July 2018, Yildirim became speaker of Turkey’s Grand National Assembly after the post of prime minister was abolished.

One of Unker’s lawyers, Tora Pekin, defended the journalist’s work after the ruling, telling local reporters it was both accurate and in the public interest.

“(Paradise Papers) were reported as news all across the world but the only one who is being tried for that is Pelin Unker,” Pekin reportedly said.

“In a democratic society, the press has an indispensable duty. It is obliged to reveal all the documents that interest the public. Pelin did this.

“Founding a company in a tax haven … The story is all about this. They did not deny this in the petition of complaint … The people have the right to read the Paradise Papers.”

After her sentencing, Unker told ICIJ she intended to ap- peal what was an extraordinary but unsurprising court ruling. Unker said what made the “world first” ruling so remarkable was that the complainants acknowledged that her articles were true.

“This decision is not a surprise for us. Because the result was certain from the beginning. There is no criminal offence or defamation in my articles,” she said.

“The fact is Binali Yildirim’s sons have Maltese companies. Binali Yildirim had already accepted that they have these companies. In the indictment, it is also accepted,” she said.

“Binali Yildirim and Berat Albayrak are the first and only politicians in the world to sue over Paradise Papers articles.”

“They want to silence journal- ists by decisions like this. Of course, we will continue doing journalism. We’re going to do what other journalists do.”

ICIJ director Gerard Ryle condemned Unker’s punishment as yet another disgraceful attack on free speech in Turkey.

Ryle said that the sentence ignored the truth of the Paradise Papers’ investigation and it would have a chilling effect on what little remained of press freedom in Turkey.

“This unjust ruling is about silencing fair and accurate reporting,” Ryle said.

Reporters Without Borders ranked Turkey 157th of 180 countries on the 2018 World Free Press Index. RS F describes Turkey as “the world’s biggest prison for professional journalists.”