June 10,1999
His Excellency Bulent Ecevit
Prime Minister
Basbakanlik
06573 Ankara, Turkey
Your Excellency,
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns in the strongest terms today’s indictment of Andrew Finkel, a free-lance journalist based in Istanbul who reports for Time magazine and the Times of London and appears on CNN.
In a hearing today, Finkel, a British national, was charged with “insulting state institutions” under Article 159 of the Turkish Penal Code. The charge comes in response to a February 1998 article Finkel wrote for the daily Sabah titled “Shurnak 1998,” which discussed Turkey’s ongoing military operations against the Kurds in the southeast. An expert panel’s report, submitted to the court, concluded that Finkel did not insult the military. Another hearing has been scheduled for November 16, pending the report of a second panel of experts on the validity of the charges. If convicted, Finkel faces up to six years in prison.
After today’s hearing, Finkel said that the charges against him are but the latest example of the Turkish authorities’ use of provisions of the penal code to harass and intimidate his Turkish colleagues. “Because Prime Minister Ecevit has himself stood in the darkness, as an imprisoned journalist,” said Finkel, “it behooves him to join in the campaign to change these repressive practices.”
The indictment of Andrew Finkel for his journalistic work violates the fundamental norms for free expression as guaranteed under international law, and follows a disturbing pattern of attacks on the press in Turkey in recent weeks.
We last wrote to Your Excellency on May 19, expressing our deep alarm at the May 18 conviction of Cumhurriyet columnist Oral Calislar on the charge of disseminating “separatist propaganda” under Article 8 of the Anti-Terror Law. He was sentenced to 13 months in prison by the Istanbul State Security Court. The charge against Calislar stemmed from a 1993 book he wrote, titled The Kurdish Problem with Ocalan and Burkay. The book contains interviews–originally published in Cumhurriyet in June and July 1993–with Kemal Burkay, head of the Kurdistan Socialist Party, and Abdullah Ocalan, leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, who is now awaiting trial in Turkey on treason charges.
In a June 8, 1999, letter to Justice Minister Hikmet Sami Turk, CPJ protested the arrest and indictment of Hasan Deniz, editor of the daily Ozgur Bakis. On June 4, Deniz was charged in the Istanbul State Security Court with violating Article 169 of the Penal Code (aiding an illegal organization) and immediately arrested. According to staff at Ozgur Bakis, the charge against Deniz stems from the newspaper’s publication of an article on June 3, 1999, titled “PKK Gives Support to Öcalan’s Project.” The article reported on a statement issued by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) supporting the call by Abdullah Öcalan for an end to violence and a “democratic solution” to political violence between Turkey and Kurdish rebels.
In July 1997, Your Excellency told CPJ’s delegation that as a former journalist who had been imprisoned for his work, you “consider freedom of expression as a vital component of democracy.” We call on you to make good on this pronouncement by adopting the following recommendations aimed at bringing Turkey’s practices in accordance with international standards:
The Committee to Protect Journalists, a nongovernmental organization of journalists dedicated to defending press freedom worldwide, respectfully urges Your Excellency to examine all possible legal options to reverse both the indictment of Andrew Finkel and the conviction against Oral Calislar and to initiate parliamentary efforts to dismiss charges against journalists which are now pending in court. We also reiterate our call for the immediate release from prison of Hasan Deniz and again urge you to immediately introduce meaningful reforms designed to abolish laws that criminalize free expression in Turkey.
Thank you for your attention to these important matters. We look forward to your comments.
Sincerely,
Ann K. Cooper
Executive Director
Join CPJ in Protesting Attacks on the Press in Turkey
Send a letter to:
His Excellency Bulent Ecevit
Prime Minister
Basbakanlik
06573 Ankara, Turkey