Critics not Silenced by Persecution of Dissident Voices

The officials of the Oda TV news portal, Soner Yalçın, Barış Terkoğlu, Ayhan Bozkurt ve Barış Pehlivan, were taken to the Istanbul Courthouse in Beşiktaş on Thursday morning (16 February). They were taken into custody four days ago under allegations of "membership of the Ergenekon organization" and "inciting the public to hatred and hostility".

It was reported that the four journalists used their right to refuse to give evidence during the three days they were kept in custody at the Istanbul Police Directorate.

The International Press Institute (IPI) expressed concern about the police operation against the OdaTV.com news site in Taksim/Istanbul, "We are concerned about such raids being carried out against critical journalism rather than against a concrete criminal offence. The dissident press with different viewpoints is a cornerstone of democracy".

The police raided the office of OdaTV.com and confiscated documents during a search at the homes of the four employees in custody on 14 February. Ferai Tınç, Head of the IPI Turkey National Committee, claimed that this was an "unacceptable situation in terms of press freedom".

"We believe that this operation, supposedly related to an ongoing trial, was aimed at silencing opposing opinions. We evaluate the operation as a restriction of press freedom since the activities of the press institutions could not be obstructed by legal means".

"Raid on entire dissident press, not only on Oda TV"

At a press conference on Thursday, Atilla Sertel, Head of the Turkish Journalists Federation (TGF) said on behalf of the Freedom for Journalists Platform that the police raid on Oda TV "clearly demonstrated a time of open attack and oppression against and silencing of the press. (...) "The raid was not on Oda TV, but on all publishing organs that are still in opposition", he argued.

Representatives of the Freedom for Journalists Platform (GÖP) criticized the incidents as a "serious threat against press freedom" and "an operation to silence dissident voices".

Many journalists participated in the press conference, namely Erkan Sadık, Head of the Turkish Journalists Union (TGS), Journalists Union of Turkey (TGS) Secretary General Muhittin Doğan and TGS member Serpil Özkaynak, Mustafa Çolak and Rüya Özkalkan from the Cumhuriyet newspaper, the former Head of the Bar Association, Turgut Kazan, and the President of the Press Council, Orhan Birgit, to mention just a few.

"Law is being used as means of pressure"

Sertel emphasized that the law is being used as a means of pressure and that the same could happen to anyone anytime. He announced that they were going to go to the Beşiktaş Courthouse after the press conference in order to support the four Oda TV administrators.

İHD: Press raids to demonstrate authority

Also yesterday, the Human Rights Association (İHD) issued a press release related to the operation entitled "Is the press free?" It was stated that journalists were facing the threat of custody and arrest and that this was the result of the political power's oppressive policies against press freedom by legal means, the association pointed out. The İHD urged for the release of journalists in custody and detention.

The association called the incidents "one of the latest examples that demonstrate the current state of press freedom in Turkey".

"The oppression inflicted on members of the press has to stop. Press freedom has to be pursued in an absolute manner and detained journalists should be released immediately. Soner Yalçın and his colleagues should be released. Their right to a fair trial and the assumption of innocence must be abided", the press release read.

The İHD deplored that pressure by "legal means" has been put on journalists, intellectuals and writers along with other dissident sections of the society for a while now. The association stressed that the replacement of State Security Courts (DGM) by Special Authority Courts did not change anything. "Now, the oppression is being imposed by the prosecutions", the İHD indicated and expressed criticism on the judiciary. (EG/EÖ/VK)