Calls on Prime Minister to Launch Immediate Investigation and to Bring Perpetrators to Justice New York, N.Y., October 21, 1999-The Committee to Protect Journalists expressed outrage at the assassination today of prominent academic and journalist Ahmet Taner Kislali. Kislali, a regular columnist for the daily Cumhuriyet,was killed today in a bomb attack in front of his…
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.
Click here to read Nadire Mater’s personal statement Last week, Nadire Mater, a reporter with Inter Press Service (IPS), learned that she had been formally charged with “insulting” the Turkish military-a crime under Article 159 of the Turkish Penal Code. If convicted, she faces between one and six years in prison. The charge stems from…
By Nadire Mater Istanbul, September 21, 1999—A local prosecutor in Beyoglu, Istanbul has finally indicted me under Article 159 of the penal code ( “insulting and belittling the military”) for having published the statements of former army soldiers who I interviewed for my book Mehmedin Kitabi(“Mehmed’s Book—Soldiers Who Have Fought in the Southeast Speak Out”). The…
Your Excellency, The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is writing in response to the Turkish parliament’s approval last month of an amnesty law (law 4454 for 1999) that will secure the release of a number of jailed journalists and writers imprisoned on the basis of their published work and which is expected to temporarily cancel dozens of other prosecutions pending in court.
Click here to read CPJ’s September 17 letter to Prime Minister Ecevit. September 17, 1999—On August 28, the Turkish parliament approved an amnesty bill that will secure the release of a number of journalists and writers who were jailed on the basis of their published work. The law was signed by President Suleiman Demirel on…
June 8,1999 His Excellency Hikmet Sami T&uuulm;rk Minister of Justice Ankara, Turkey Your Excellency, The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply alarmed by the recent arrest and indictment of Hasan Deniz, editor of the daily &Oulm;zg&uuulm;r Bakis. On June 4, state prosecutors at the Istanbul State Security Court charged Deniz with violating Article 169…
Istanbul, Turkey, July 23, 1999–The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) issued a report today documenting Turkey’s continuing use of criminal prosecutions to silence journalists who report on sensitive topics, such as the Kurdish question and the role of Islam in politics. At a press conference in Istanbul, a CPJ delegation expressed its concern…
May 5, 1999 His Excellency Selcuk Oztek Minister of Justice Adalet Bakanligi 06659 Ankara, Turkey Your Excellency, The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply dismayed by yesterday’s verdict in the retrial of 11 police officers accused in the January 1996 murder of Metin Goktepe, a journalist with the leftist daily Evrensel. The Afyon court’s decision…
May 5, 1999 His Excellency Selcuk Oztek Minister of Justice Adalet Bakanligi 06659 Ankara, Turkey Your Excellency, The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply dismayed by yesterday’s verdict in the retrial of 11 police officers accused in the January 1996 murder of Metin Goktepe, a journalist with the leftist daily Evrensel. The Afyon court’s decision…