Seventeen journalists put on trial in Turkey

SEVENTEEN journalists at a leading opposition newspaper in Turkey go on trial in Istanbul today, facing up to 43 years in prison in one of the most highprofile cases of the government’s crackdown on the media following last year’s coup attempt.

The staff at Cumhuriyet are charged with aiding a terrorist organisation and most are accused of helping supporters of Fetullah Gülen, a Muslim preacher who Turkey accuses of masterminding the putsch last July. Mr Gülen has denied taking part.

Twelve of the newspaper’s journalists are in prison. Five others were released pending trial, while two other journalists who are not employees at the paper will be tried in absentia.

The paper has been running the pictures of those in prison daily on the front page alongside the amount of days they have spent behind bars.

About 160 journalists are behind bars in Turkey and 130 media outlets were shut down following the putsch, according to union data.

“We’re really going through some tough times,” says Bülent Özdoğan, who took over as Cumhuriyet’s acting editor-in-chief after its previous head, Murat Sabunc, was jailed along with his colleagues nine months ago.

“We believe in democracy, secularism, freedom. We defend these principles but the government doesn’t want this kind of opposition media in Turkey.” Most advertisers have deserted the paper. Last year, its former editorin-chief, Can Dündar, fled to Germany after he was released in Turkey pending appeal. He had been sentenced to at least five years, allegedly for revealing state secrets.

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the president, denies anyone is sent to prison for their journalism and says only two of those in jail have press cards.

According to The Committee To Protect Journalists (CPJ), Turkey is the largest jailer of journalists in the world.

CPJ’S Turkey Representative, Ozgur Ogret said Cumhuriyet – “republic” in Turkish – is one of the last independent outlets in the country.

“This makes Cumhuriyet not only credible but also dangerous… The government wants to dictate the rhetoric and dominate the public debate in each and every matter.”

Mr Özdoğan contends the charges are political and says his paper wrote critically about Mr Gülen, a once-ally of Erdoğan.