Opposition protests holding journalists’ trial in secret
Government alleges article revealed state secrets, abetted terrorists
ISTANBUL — The trial of two Turkish journalists accused of revealing state secrets and helping a terror organization over their reports on alleged government-arms smuggling to Syrian rebels was adjourned on Friday after opposition lawmakers refused to leave the courthouse in defiance of a ruling that the case should be behind closed doors.
Cumhuriyet newspaper’s editor-in-chief, Can Dundar, and Ankara editor Erdem Gul face life imprisonment if found guilty of charges of espionage and of aiding the moderate Islamic movement led by U.S.based cleric Fethullah Gulen, a foe of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The pair are on trial for publishing images that reportedly date back to January 2014 when local authorities searched Syria-bound trucks, leading to a standoff with Turkish intelligence officials. Cumhuriyet said the images proved Turkey was smuggling arms to Islamist rebels.
The prosecutor asked that the hearing proceed behind closed doors, a request that was granted by the court, according to local media. Turkey’s private Dogan news agency said the court also accepted that the Turkish president and national intelligence organization should be plaintiffs in the case.
Opposition lawmakers insisted on attending the hearing and refused to leave the courthouse, which meant that the afternoon session could not move forward, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported. The panel of judges also decided to file a complaint against the legislators for attempting to influence the trial. Representatives of international media advocacy groups, which are pressing Turkey to drop charges, also came to Friday’s opening hearing to show their support. The trial is seen as a bellwether of the future of press freedom in the country, which has witnessed a growing crackdown on independent and opposition media.
The journalists were arrested in November after Erdogan filed a personal complaint against the two. Turkey’s constitutional court ruled in February that their rights were violated, leading to their release from jail.
Speaking to reporters as he entered the courthouse, Dundar said he was hopeful that the court would take the high court’s ruling into account and drop the charges.
“The constitutional court has already said that this news is not an act of terrorism but an act of journalism. So this judge, we hope, will approve this decision and drop (this) case,” he said.
The indictment accuses the two of working with the Gulen movement to create the image that the government said was aiding terror groups.
The government initially denied the trucks were carrying arms, maintaining that the cargo consisted of humanitarian aid. Some officials later suggested the trucks were carrying arms or ammunition destined for Turkmen kinsmen in Syria.
Government officials accuse Gulen’s supporters of stopping the trucks as part of an alleged plot to bring down the government. The government has branded the movement a “terror organization” although it is not known to have engaged in any acts of violence.