Copies of the Çine Uğur newspaper were seized by a decision of the Çine Criminal Court of First Instance (the south-western province of Aydın). Even before the seizure, the court decreed for an access ban on the daily's internet site www. HaberUgur.com. The decision was taken in the hearing on 28 September but has not been implemented yet. The sanctions stem from an article entitled "What is the duty of the District Governor in Çine?" written by Yılmaz Sağlık, publication director of the newspaper.

The Çine District Governor, Celalettin Cantürk, had filed a compensation claim against the newspaper and also demanded to seize its issues. The daily is still facing a compensation claim of TL 10,000 (€ 5,000).

In the article subject to the trial, the district governor was accused of turning a blind eye to corruption in the district. Certain terms used in the article with the full title "Desolate mountains, desolate streams, what is the duty of the District Governor in Çine"? were found "insulting and ridiculing". These were expressions such as "to wear blinkers, to be a handler of problems, to turn a blind eye on illegality, to remain silent on gambling".

Access to website will be banned, newspaper copies seized

The trial was opened on 14 September. In the first hearing, the court requested the Telecommunication Communication Presidency (TİB) to stop the online publication of the article about the district governor and to block access to the website by 27 September as a precautionary measure.

The court furthermore requested TİB to evaluate the contents of the publications. Moreover, the court demanded the Çine Police Directorate to stop the sale of the newspaper's issue dd. 28 September 2010 in which the article on trial was published.

The police in Çine immediately seized one thousand copies. Journalist Sağlık complained at the police about the precautionary measures from 14 September, the day the article was posted online. However, the police took his statement only after another eight days had passed.

It has not been announced when TİB is going to implement the website access ban. The trial against Sağlık will be continued on 14 December.

Sağlık: So the Prime Minister should seize newspaper copies every day!

Sağlık has been a journalist for 25 years. In an interview with bianet he asked, "Has a district governor seized a newspaper because of a column?"

"Is it not his primary duty to respond to the allegations? He could make a statement or disclaim the allegations. The Prime Minister is being criticized every single day. So the Prime Minister should have newspaper copies seized every day. What happened to our press freedom? There is not only my column in the newspaper, there are also news, reader comments and other things. What happened to our rights enshrined in the constitution? This in fact is censorship".

District Governor: I used my legal rights

District Governor Cantürk confirmed that he had the newspaper copies seized. He argued that everything he did was according to the law and that he had opened a trial against the newspaper.

Cantürk stated that he applied to court on the grounds of several articles and news in the daily. "I used my legal rights. The court decided that way. The police forces acted pursuant to the law", he argued. (EÖ/VK)