Journalist Sener: I Have Become A Target

Cumhuriyet newspaper journalist Nedim Şener faces a total of 32 years 6 months imprisonment in 3 different trials related to his book "The Dink Murder and the Intelligence's Lies". Şener stated at court, "I could not comprehend which terror organizations I made the complaining police officers a target of. I did not expose them but myself".

In the book, the journalist writes about the negligence and attempts to cover up this negligence of gendarmerie, police and the Turkish secret service prior to the murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink in 2007.

Şener stands accused for exposing the plaintiffs as a target to the Ergenekon organization, a clandestine ultra-nationalist terrorist organization charged with plotting to overthrow the government. In the hearing of one of the trials before the Istanbul 11^th High Criminal Court on 16 December journalist Şener argued, "I worked on revealing relations to the Dink murder. In fact, I put forth connections to the Ergenekon organization".

Court expects an explicit answer instead of folders

Following the publication of the book, several police officers filed criminal complaints against the writer: Ramazan Akyürek, then Chief of Police in Trabzon and deposed from office as Police Intelligence Unit Chief in September, police officer of the Intelligence Office Presidency Muhittin Zenit, Faruk Sarı, Trabzon Police Intelligence Branch Manager and Ali Fuat Yılmazer, Deputy Chief of the Istanbul Police.

Şener is tried under charges of "targeting people involved in anti-terrorism campaigns" and "obtaining and revealing classified information". The latest hearing was also attended by journalist Haluk Şahin to support un-detained defendant Şener.

In the hearing on 23 October the court required information from the Istanbul 14^th High Criminal Court dealing with the Hrant Dink murder case whether the relating file contains the diagrams which are attached to Şener's book. However, the court replied by sending 2 folders from the relevant file and added: "If you want, we can also send you 35 further folders".

Thus, the court did not wait for the day of the next hearing but send a second writing in order to obtain information on the requested topic only, as declared by the court. The case is to be continued on 17 February 2010.

Complainant Ali Fuat Yılmazer's lawyer Seyfettin Uzunçakmak presented Şener's earlier book entitled "Code Name Atilla" as evidence for "targeting people". However, writer Şener claimed this was merely a tactic to prolong the trial.

The journalist indicated that he believes in a positive outcome of the case once the court has acquired several documents, saying that the deposition of Akyürek proved him right.

Another hearing on 22 December

Following the complaints of Akyürek, Yılmazer, Sarı and Zenit, Şener faces 8 years imprisonment at the Bakırköy (Istanbul) 2^nd Criminal Court of First Instance due to a diagram published in his books. That case was postponed to 22 December.

A third lawsuit has been opened against the writer based on a certain content of his latest book, namely a diagram showing telephone communication traffic between defendants of the Dink murder case and a couple of defendants from the Ergenekon case. The prosecution demands a 4 years 6 months prison sentence in this trial, which is also heard at the Bakırköy 2^nd Criminal Court of First Instance. (EÖ/VK)