BİA 2010 ANNUAL MEDIA MONITORING REPORT

According to the BİA 2010 Media Monitoring Report, 220 people, 104 of whom are journalists, were tried in the scope of freedom of thought and freedom of expression in 2010. The fines handed down to Turkey by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) increased to TL 547,300 (€ 281,100). 33 people were sentenced to imprisonment of 365 years and three months in total and monetary fines amounting to TL 49,200 (€24,500) under the Anti-Terror Law. 30 journalists are in prison.

On 56 pages, the report sums up the struggles of 777 people under the headings "killed journalists", "attacks and threats", "arrests and detentions", "trials related to press freedom and freedom of expression", "corrections and legal redress", "reactions to censorship and monopolization", "European Court of Human Rights", and "RTÜK applications".

The report cannot fully encompass all breaches of press freedom and freedom of expression. It rather aims at giving an idea about the situation regarding the quantity and quality of violations.

Killed journalists

Cihan Hayırsevener: On 15 October, the trial on the murder of journalist Cihan Hayırsevener started before the Istanbul 10^th High Criminal Court. Hayırsevener was the General Publications Director of the Güney Marmara'da Yaşam newspaper ('Life in Southern Marmara') published in Bandırma (Balıkesir). He was killed on 18 December 2009. Among the twelve defendants on trial are triggerman suspect Serkan Erkkuş (detained), Ilk Haber newspaper publishing coordinator Engin Arıcan, the Bandırma Deputy Mayor, Talip Yıldız (detained), and members of the Kuruoğlu family who is publishing the Ilk Haber daily, namely İhsan Kuruoğlu (detained), İlbey Kuruoğlu and Osman Kuruoğlu.

The file was forwarded to the Court of Appeals in order to solve a clash of duties at the Bandırma High Criminal Court. Administrational problems occurred after the file of the murder case had been merged with a case opened under allegations of "establishing an organization for profit", "membership in an illegal organization" and "corruption in public tenders".

Hrant Dink: The Istanbul 14^th High Criminal Court dismissed the request for a site survey of the region around the scene of crime in order to confirm the conclusiveness of Ogün Samast's statement. Samast is the prime suspect in the murder case related to the assassination of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink. The Dink family lawyers demanded to access footage of the murder by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK). A security camera of the nearby Akbank Branch had the referring visuals which were erased after the incident. The lawyers asked whether the footage had in fact been deleted and if yes by which program and if it would be possible to recover the records. The court decided to send another letter to the research council since there was no reply yet. The court did not change its position on merging the two cases related to the Dink murder tried in Trabzon and Istanbul as repeatedly requested by the plaintiff lawyers. The Istanbul 14^th High Criminal Court dismissed also the latest claim filed by the lawyers accordingly saying that "the decision of the ECHR has not been finalized yet". It was furthermore decreed to keep defendants Yasin Hayal and Erhan Tuncel in detention because of risk of flight. Hayal and Tuncel stand accused of instigation to murder. Both defendants will have been detained for four years by the date of the coming hearing on 7 February 2011. The court decided to send another letter to the Ankara High Criminal Court regarding a statement to be taken from Ergün Çağatay. He had mentioned that defendant Hayal had also targeted author Orhan Pamuk. The attorneys of the plaintiff party will be informed about the date Çağatay is going to give his statement. The court had previously refrained from hearing supposed eye-witnesses Emsale Çakmakçı, Celal Yıldırm and Şahabettin Şahin and witnesses Erhan Şivil and Mehmet Ali Temelocak who sat next to Samast in the coach when he was travelling back to Trabzon after the murder. Reason for not hearing these witnesses was the difficulty to ascertain their addresses. The court is going to work on that again. The court board decreed to have police officer Necati Ekinci interrogated by the High Criminal Court in Rize (eastern Black Sea Coast) since he made a number of telephone calls at the time with Mustafa Öztürk, former head of the so-called Alperen Organization, a far right nationalistic youth group linked to the Great Unity Party (BBP). Prime suspect Samast will be tried before a juvenile court. Amendments on the Anti-Terror Law enforced in June lifted the provision that juveniles older than 15 years of age should be prosecuted like adults. Samast's prosecution will be continued at the Istanbul Sultanahmet Juvenile High Criminal Court towards the end of December 2010.

Uğur Mumcu: 18 years after the killing of Cumhurriyet newspaper writer Uğur Mumcu in 1993, his case was once more taken to court. Mumcu's family filed a criminal complaint about "the officials who neglected the investigation and the prosecution of the real perpetrators and instigators" related to the journalist murder. Lawyer Halil Sevinç submitted the complaint on behalf of Güldal, Özgür and Özge Mumcu. It was said, "We demand the punishment of the people who are verifiably responsible. Procedures related to the people who could not be taken to court because they were abroad have been left pending at an administrative level. The responsible people should be found in an effective investigation in order to avoid the recent experience of having reached the statute of limitations". The petition conceded that a few people were punished in the scope of the "Umut Trial". However, the real perpetrators and the instigators behind the incident were not found and taken to court and not even Oğuz Demir who allegedly attached the explosives to Mumcu's car was arrested and tried, it was criticized. When Mumcu was murdered, Süleyman Demirel was Prime Minister of Turkey, Doğan Güreş was the Chief of General Staff, İzmet Sezgin was Minister of the Interior, Erdoğan Şahinoğlu the Undersecretary of the National Intelligence Agency (MIT), Sönmez Köksal the Governor of Ankara and Nurset Demiral was the Chief Prosecutor of the State Security Court. When Güldal Mumcu requested to "tear down the walls" encountered during the investigation, Mehmet Ağar, then Chief of Police, replied, "I can't, it is impossible".

Attacks and Threats

On 11 December, Taraf newspaper writer Roni Margulies was attacked with eggs and paint bags in a panel discussion he attended in Çanakkale (south-western Marmara region). The attack was carried out by members of the Freedom and Solidarity Party (ÖDP) and the Community Centres, it was reported. Taraf journalists Mehmet Baransu and Emre Uslu attended a panel discussion entitled "Democracy and Human Rights" organized by the youth division of the AKP. In expectance of a potential egg attack, Baransu and Uslu brought a pan and a small gas stove. A heated discussion among the people in the audience turned into a quarrel and the panel had to be cancelled.

Taraf newspaper journalist Orhan Miroğlu was threatened via an article written by a person called Toprak Cengiz. The threatening news item was published on 29 November on the website of the People's Defence Forces (HPG), an armed wing of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). The article read, "If the essence of your words continues like this, we will put into use a line that was drawn with a red pen! Miroğlu will be dead then!" The incident was condemned in a signature campaign.

A gallows rope was thrown to the podium during the speech of Star newspaper writer Mustafa Akyol and Taraf newspaper writer Yıldıray Oğur at a conference on secularism organized by the Sakarya Metropolitan Municipality on 1 November. The rope was allegedly thrown by members of the Rights and Equality Party (HEPAR) Youth Division. According to the Sakarya newspaper, Sefer Şehirali, President of the HEPAR Youth Division, said at the panel discussion, "This is the homeland where the glorious martyrs lay written with the blood of the War of Independence that you betrayed every day". Some young members of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) were attacked, the newspaper reported. The incident was criticized by the Human Rights Association (İHD) and the Association of Human Rights and Solidarity for Oppressed Peoples (MAZLUMDER).

On 17 October, supporters of the Trabzonspor football club provoked a fight with members of the Freedom and Solidarity Party (ÖDP). The ÖDP members had organized a protest action on Galatasaray Square in Istanbul with banners reading "Don't eavesdrop, don't spy". The football fans shouted "Down with the PKK". The riot forces were not able to prevent the attack on the ÖDP members.  The police intervened with truncheons and tear gas to stop the fight. National Channel reporter Deniz Çağlayan and Samanyolu TV cameraman Huzeyfe Yıldız got injured when they tried to cover the incident and underwent medical treatment afterwards. The ÖDP condemned the attack.

Mehmet Öztürk, owner of the Halk Postası newspaper published in Karadeniz Ereğlisi (Zonguldak, Black Sea coast), was attacked on 10 September in front of his office. Öztürk, a retired municipality employee, complained about the attacker. The prosecution launched an investigation. The Ereğli Journalists Association condemned the attack.

Members of the Solidarity Association of Prisoners' Families (TAYAD) were attacked with stones on 29 September in the Gazi district of Ankara. The aggressors were a group of people who were alleged ülkücü, i.e. nationalist youths associated with the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP).Cameraman M.V. of the İhlas News Agency (İHA) and İHA reporter B.C. were also attacked when they covered the incident. The police intervened.

Yılmaz Sağlık, Publications Director of the Çine Uğur (Aydın) newspaper, was threatened on the www.HaberUgur.com website when an article critical of the Çine District Governor, Celalettin Cantürk, was published. The article was entitled "What is the duty of the District Governor in Çine?" The police took Sağlık's statement eight days after he had filed the correspondent complain. Expressions used in the article such as "to wear blinkers, to be a handler of problems, to turn a blind eye on illegality, to remain silent on gambling" were taken as a reason to open a trial against the journalist.

Journalist Yakup Önal, owner of the weekly Şarköy Sesi ('Voice of Şarköy) newspaper published in the Şarköy district of Tekirdağ west of Istanbul, claimed to have been threatened and insulted by Ali Bayraktar, President of the Şarköy Association for the Thoughts of Atatürk. In an article entitled "The CHP member and member of the Municipality Assembly was convicted for beating his wife" published in the issue of 11-17 August, the newspaper had reported about the conviction of Bayraktar because he had beaten his wife.

Taraf newspaper writer and politician Orhan Miroğlu was threatened over the phone by an unidentified individual who said "You can die any minute". Subsequently, Miroğlu wrote on 6 September in his column in the Taraf daily that he received threatening e-mails from time to time but that this was the first time he received a death threat.

Günlük Evrensel newspaper reporter Özgür Topsakal was threatened after the publication of the article entitled "The solution of the problem" on 29 July. Topsakal received an e-mail with a picture showing him amongst other people after the murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink. The mail read, "The Alperen members [Islamist/nationalist] will certainly call you to account for what it means to call a great leader a baby murderer. There is no hole to hide in this country for traitors of the fatherland". Topsakal complained at the Elbistan Prosecution.

The Steering Board Member of the Çukurova  Journalists Association (ÇGC), Özcan Aladağ, writer for the local Kent newspaper, was attacked in a park by two unidentified young people on 9 August in Çukurova (south-eastern Turkey). Before beating the journalist, one of the attackers supposedly said, "This is our last warning to you. You will not write again". It was said that the security staff in the park just watched the attack. It was reported that several writings of the journalist published throughout the previous month were seen as the reason of the attack. Aladağ filed a complaint against both attackers and obtained a medical report from the Forensic Medicine Institute documenting the beating. The Çukurova Journalists Association demanded to arrest the attackers as soon as possible. The article "Will you seize the right to trivial peace" published on the AdanaHaberMerkezi.com website and in the Adana Ulus newspaper on 31 August criticized the high contamination of the water supplied to the inhabitants of Adana, a population of 2 million people. It is not clear if the attack was based on that article.

On 5 August, it was reported that İhlas News Agency (İHA) intelligence reporter Edip Tekin was attacked when he attempted to take pictures of a traffic accident that happened in the Osmangazi district of Bursa (north-western Turkey). Apparently, Tekin was attacked by the people involved in the accident. His camera got broken. The Turkish Journalists Association (TGC) condemned the attack.

Vahap İş, reporter for the Hedef Newspaper and the Dicle News Agency (DİHA), filed a criminal complaint at the Nusaybin Prosecution about the police officers who are responsible for beating and arresting him on 25 July in Nusaybin in the south-eastern province of Mardin. In his petition for redress, the journalist argued that one of his fingers got broken when the police took his camera away from him. He also claimed that he had been exposed to several insults. In the course of the incident, the police apparently also intervened against İş and seized his equipment. He was able to take back his equipment but the police illegally seized the footage and kept his voice recorder, İş said. He received a sick certificate for ten days.

Journalist Cevdet Şen, Doğan News Agency (DHA) reporter for the city of Kınık, was assaulted on 26 July because of a news report he had written about a raid on a pharmacy. 18-year-old F.K. supposedly hit Şen on his head with a hard object in Izmir. F.K. immediately fled the scene after the attack. Journalist Şen was wounded and taken to the Kınık Health Centre where he received first aid. He was then transferred to the Bergama State Hospital. The journalist did not suffer from serious injuries. Suspect F.K. was taken into police custody.

Journalists İsmail Eskin and Çağdaş Kaplan from the Dicle News Agency (DİHA) were attacked by a large group of people when they were covering a demonstration in Küçükçekmece, a district on the European side of Istanbul, on 18 July. Eskin and Kaplan were taken to hospital. DİHA announced that the incident was directed by a plainclothes police officer. The journalists were in the Kanarya quarter of Küçükçekmece to gather information about a protest march related to increased police operations against the Provincial Organization of the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) and against alleged desecration of bodies of members of the militant Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) who got killed in armed conflicts. As reported by DİHA, a group of demonstrators threw a Molotov cocktail and set an office on fire. At the same time, a person who supposedly was a plainclothes police officer, pointed at the journalists and told the others that they had organized the use of Molotov cocktails. Thereupon, a large group of demonstrators attacked Eskin and Kaplan, DİHA announced. The attackers tried to throw Kaplan into the burning office. When Eskin tried to stop them, he was beaten with a rod. It was also reported that the attackers grabbed one of the journalists' cameras. According to the news agency, the police as the responsible party to take security measures remained passive spectators of the assault. The journalists eventually managed to escape. Eskin suffered two cracks in his head and a broken arm, Kaplan was beaten at various parts of his body. Eskin and Kaplan went to the Taksim First Aid Hospital and underwent medical treatment.

On 17 July, DHA reporter and editor-in-chief of the weekly Midyat Habur newspaper, Mehment Halis İş, was exposed to police violence when he was covering a protest action organized by the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP). When İş took pictures of the protestors, a plainclothes police officer physically intervened against him, it was reported. Footage published on the local newspaper's website showed a plainclothes person approaching the journalist aggressively and rebuked him, "What are you filming?". 22 non-governmental organizations from the city of Midyat condemned the intervention against the journalist, including representatives from different ethnic and religious groups, e.g. Syrian, Sayyid, Arabic and Kurdish organizations. They were accompanied by members of the Midiyat Civil Society Assembly and many other citizens.

Şükrü Gökkaya, news director of the Bizim Radio Television (BR TV) broadcasting in the province of Karabük in northern Turkey, was attacked in his car on 7 July. Gökkaya was attacked by a member of the Turkish Metal Workers Union. The man, who allegedly came to back from work reportedly stopped Gökkaya when the journalist returned from work and punched him with his fist. Gökkaya is in good health. The suspect was arrested. The Contemporary Journalists Association (ÇGD) and the Karabük Journalists Association condemned the attack.

"A Cerain General" was the headline of Taraf newspaper after General İlker Başbuğ, then Chief of General Staff, had referred to the nation-wide daily as a "certain newspaper". The daily accused Başbuğ of having violated the law. Başbuğ had alleged that information about the "Action Plan against Reactionary Forces" published by Taraf had been leaked by the police. Taraf newspaper asked Başbuğ whether he had any evidence. The newspaper had previously criticized the general for saying "Either resign as a member of parliament or go to the mountains", referring to pro-Kurdish MPs in the "Arena" program hosted by Uğur Dündar and broadcasted on 5 July on Star TV.

On 16 June, the owner of the local Türkbeleni newspaper published in the Manavgat district of Antalya (Mediterranean coast), Mehmet Ali Ünal, was targeted with gun fire at in front of his office. Ünal was not injured in the attack which was recorded by the newspaper's security cameras. Ünal claimed to believe that the attack stemmed from the news published in the paper and said that he could not be intimidated by the attack.

The concessionaire of the local GAP Gündemi newspaper, Veysel Polat, was attacked in Şanlıurfa, a province in south-east Turkey on the border to Syria, on 14 June. Polat is also the President of the Şanlıurfa Journalists Association and the deputy provincial chair of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) at the same time. He suffered injuries in his face. The president of the Turkish Journalists Association (TGC), Orhan Erinç, condemned the attack on Polat, who is also the association's representative for Şanlıurfa.

Dicle News Agency (DİHA) reporter Ömer Çelik was assaulted in the Istanbul district of Şişli by a group of people on 25 May. The attackers called themselves üklücü ('idealists') in reference to the ultra-national "Grey Wolves". Çelik, student at the Marmara University Faculty of Communication, was brought to the emergency room of the Etfal Hospital after the incident. Çelik has got two cracks in his skull and his left arm is broken in three places below the elbow. As reported by DİHA on 26 May, the attackers were recorded by security cameras how they approached the journalist with clubs in their hand. According to the footage, the aggressors waved with their hands and arms when they left the scene after the attack. Çelik said he was able to identify the attackers and filed a criminal complaint.

A suspicious package left in front of the Doğan Media Centre in Istanbul on 22 May turned out to contain a time bomb. The Doğan building accommodates offices of the nationwide newspapers Dünya, Radikal and Milliyet. The bomb was disarmed by specialists. The police recognized that it was a mechanism assembled with several cables and called the bomb squad to the scene. The bomb squad placed a fuse into the package and brought the bomb to a controlled explosion. Cables, explosives and the detonator mechanism were left from the package. An investigation was initiated into the footage of public monitoring cameras (MOSEBE) in the region.

Private security officials interfered on 21 May when journalist Murat Altunöz covered a boycott organized by the Mustafa Kemal University Students Association (MKÖDER) in the university's canteen. Altunöz is the reporter for the Dicle News Agency (DİHA) for the province of Hatay on the eastern tip of the Mediterranean Sea. He was stopped by the security when he shot a movie of the boycott in the university in Antakya (Hatay). Altunöz was forced to leave the campus. People in civil apparel, introducing themselves as gendarmerie officers, asked the reporter to hand them his camera. When Altunöz refused to let go of his camera, he was made to enter a vehicle with a civil plate. In the car, Altunöz was threatened, "We warned you before. Why are you making news for DİHA? You will have to face bad things". Afterwards, the people in the car let him go.

On 19 May, the Turkish Sports Writers Association (TSYD) announced that supporters of the Turkish football club Fenerbahçe attacked the sports press with their sorrow and anger expressed after the team had lost the last match of the 2009/2010 season against Trabzonspor. "By attacking sports press employees in their annoyance and anger, the Fenerbahçe supporters also tainted the memory of deceased İslam Çupi. As the TSYD steering board we wish our friends who were attacked a speedy recovery and we condemn the attackers".

Dicle News Agency (DİHA) reporter Pınar Ural was assaulted in a contracted public bus of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality on 17 May. Ural had covered a students' action on the Maslak Campus of the Istanbul Technical University (İTÜ). The İTÜ students had protested against executions in Iran. The aggressor tried to push Ural off the bus by giving her a few violent pushes. The attacker and his companions accused journalist Ural of being a "traitor to the fatherland".

In the course of a press conference made after a number of casualties in recent operations of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK), the Chief of General Staff, General İlker Başbuğ, made the following announcement on 2 May: "To say it frankly, one part of the press in Turkey is even worse than the press during the armistice in the War of Independence. Even the press during the armistice was not that treacherous." ÇGD President Ahmet Abakay declared that he found Başbuğ's criticism of the press "wrong and very dangerous". Press Council President Ekşi commented, "Even if a section of media representatives is not accepted, they are part of freedom of speech".

Reporter Cenker Tezel, working for the magazine department of Hürriyet newspaper, was attacked by the body guards of Mutasim Gaddafi, son of Libyan leader Muammer al-Gaddafi, on the night of 30 March. Tezel had learned from the news editor of the nation-wide daily that Kaddafi's son was in Istanbul at the time and having a night out at the Al Jamal, a restaurant that turns into a night club later at night. When the reporter tried to take a picture of Mutasim Gaddafi, he was assaulted by his body guards. Tezel suffered injuries in different parts of his body; his camera was broken.

The Provincial Directorate for Public Education of Tunceli (eastern Turkey) announced to have launched an investigation into threatening e-mails sent to the local Tunceli Emek newspaper by Süleyman Çakmak, Manager of the Provincial Public Education Branch. The local newspaper run by three women had received the e-mails sent under the alias of "striking cobra" ('vurucu kobra') after publishing the article entitled "Public education and a strange education" written by Dilek Karakoyun. Karakoyun had criticized the public education system in her article. Right after the publication of the article on 6 August 2009, the newspaper received an e-mail in the evening hours of the same day sent from the address vurucu-kobra@hotmail.com. A municipality employee with the initials İ.E. from Samsun at the Back Sea coast sent another e-mail to the newspaper on 15 July 2009 containing threats and insults.

Journalist Tamer Topçu was attacked by two un-identified persons on the evening of 23 March. Topçu had previously criticized the Mayor of Buca, Ercan Tatı, in several articles. The journalist stated that a person he did not know asked for a meeting, saying that he was going to hand him a file about Mayor Tatı. However, they talked on the phone a couple of times but he never showed up at the places agreed on. Eventually, Topçu was heavily assaulted, supposedly by the same person.

Prime Minister Erdoğan said in an interview on BBC that he could expel "illegal Armenians" from the country if necessary. He addressed journalist Cengiz Çandar, who expected an apology, without mentioning his name: "Who are you? Be honest for once. Advocate for the right thing". Çandar replied with his article entitled "We did not get it wrong" published in Referans newspaper on 20 March 2010.

On 1 May, Ahmet Mahmut Ünlü, a controversial Islamic preacher also known as "Cübbeli Ahmet Hoca" ('Master Ahmet with the gown'), invited Taraf newspaper journalist Fırat Alkaç and photo journalist Celal Yıldız to his office of the Arifan magazine for an interview and had allegedly threatened the journalist by his press advisor Barış Sezek and his bodyguards. In his article, Alkaç had written about the increasing competition within the İsmailağa Congregation. Ünlü had accepted the journalist's request for an interview. However, when the journalist arrived for the interview, Ünlü apparently said, "I will not give an interview, I just called you to get to know you".

Journalist Ramazan Pekgöz, news chief of the Turkish Günlük newspaper, received a death threat while he was walking to his office in the morning of 28 February. A person with the initials A.S. stopped Pekgöz on the side walk and said, "We finished Hrant Dink off. We will do the same to you". Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink was assassinated in front of his workplace Agos newspaper in January 2007.  Pekgöz complained about the person who threatened him at the Taksim Police Station in central Istanbul. The suspect was arrested subsequently.

On 26 February, the Journalists Union of Turkey (TGS) announced that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan once more disregarded the principles of the constitutional state in his statement about columnists. Erdoğan had implied to sack columnist that criticize the government's accomplishments. In his speech Erdoğan had described the media as "provocative" and the columnists' comments as "inappropriate and nasty". Almost 30 journalists signed a letter of protest addressed to Prime Minister Erdoğan. They wrote: "We as the undersigned columnists think that Prime Minister Erdoğan's statement that the newspaper bosses should control the columnists is contrary to obligatory press freedom and opposes the ideal of a 'democratic Turkey'. We think this is a grave attitude and voice our protest against the statement". Democratic Left Party (DSP) Istanbul MP Süleyman Yağız presented a resolution of questions to the PM; the TGC and the Press Institute Association condemned the incident.

On 22 February, the TGC and ÇGD invited Deputy PM Bülent Arınç to more "politeness" after he had "spat" on the media for criticizing the search of the office of the chief prosecutor of Erzincan (north-eastern Anatolia). Arınç gave a speech in Istanbul about the "democratic initiative". Concerning news entitled "The courthouse was searched", Arınç said, "Shame on you. The chief prosecutor searched the [Erzincan] chief prosecutor's home and office with a search warrant at hand. This is the language of law. But in the landloper's language it is "raid". They all got used to raids. They are coming from the tradition of coups", Arınç argued.

On 12 February, a computer hacker posted a text on the website of the weekly Armenian Agos newspaper which praised Ogün Samast, prime suspect in the murder case Agos founder Hrant Dink. In the writing put on the main page the hacker(s) said that the murder "was done on behalf of the Turkish flag and the Turkish Republic". Moreover, a photograph of suspect Samast was posted. The Initiative against Discrimination and Nationalism protested the hacking on Beyoğlu's Istiklal Avenue (Istanbul) and sold copies of the newspaper.

On 3 February, cameraman Ertuğrul Yılmaz from local television channel Kanal 48 was attacked when he was recording footage of rubble that had been dropped in a forest belonging to the İçmeler Municipality as a part of the city of Marmara on the western Mediterranean coast. 45-year-old Yılmaz was hospitalized due to the injuries suffered from the attack.

27 journalists filed a criminal complaint in the scope of the "Sledgehammer"coup plan, which was allegedly worked out by 1^st Army Commander Çetin Doğan. A total of 36 journalists had been mentioned in the plan to be arrested, 27 of them filed the complaint after their according announcement in a press conference on 28 January. The plan labelled 137 journalists as "to benefit from", whereas the names of 36 journalists were listed "to be arrested". On 25 January, General İlker Başbuğ, Chief of General Staff, commented the "Sledgehammer" coup plan which made the news of Taraf newspaper since 20 January and said, "Also the army has only that much of patience".

After the release from prison of Mehmet Ali Ağca, murder of journalist Abdi İpekçi in the 1970s, Ağca's bodyguards threatened journalists when he left his hotel in Ankara. On 19 January, one of the bodyguards threatened the journalists as follows: "I will crush you, I will hit you and put you to sleep". When Ağaç changed vehicles on his way from the Ankara district of Eryaman to the district of Sincan, his bodyguards cursed at the journalists, "Don't come closer, damn you all, god damn it". When Ağca's brother Adnan Ağca was asked questions by journalists in the hotel lobby, he said, "Your capabilities do not improve. Compare yourself with the ones in Europe. Is there any need to read your news?"

On 9 January, journalist Ozan Özhan was allegedly attacked by an anti-riot forces policeman when he was looking at a sign board on the wall of the former water depot reading "The Energy of 2010 spreads all over Istanbul" on Istanbul's centrally located Taksim Square. Özhan filed a criminal complaint with the policeman. The journalist went to the Beyoğlu Prosecution on duty the following day to present a report that confirmed beating marks on his legs and his ear. Özhan said he would follow up his criminal complaint. Apparently, a police officer started a quarrel with Özhan. He pulled Özhan inside the shutoff and punched his ear and kicked his leg. Another police officer introducing himself as an inspector came to the scene and told the policeman, "This is the centre of Istanbul, what are you monkeying about with"?

Arrests and Detentions

Six journalists were imprisoned on the grounds of their published writings or books in 2010: Vedat Kurşun and Ozan Kılınç as former Chief Editors of the Azadiya Welat newspaper; Berivan Eker, the former Editorial Manager of the Renge Heviya Jine ('the colour of the women's hope') magazine; Bedri Adanır, concessionaire of Aram Publishing and official of the Hawar newspaper; Barış Açıkel, Editor-in-Chief of the İşçi Köylü ('Worker Peasant') newspaper; and Nevin Berkatş, writer of the Proletarian Revolutionary Stance ('Proleterce Devrimci Duruş') newspaper.

24 journalists are currently detained but it is not clear yet whether they are going to be prosecuted on the basis of their journalistic activities. They were arrested in the context of major trials such as "Ergenekon, "KCK", "Revolutionary Headquarters", "MLKP" and "Sledgehammer".

Halit Gündenoğlu, owner and editor-in-chief of the weekly Yürüyüş ('March') magazine, employees Kaan Ünsal and Cihan Gün and Musa Kurt, chief editor of the Kamu Emekçileri Cephesi ('Public Employees Front magazine'), were taken into police custody in the course of a raid in the morning of 24 December. The police drilled holes into the walls to check the bricks, tore down doors with hammers and seized computers. The raid of the riot forces was done with the help of helicopters. The journalists were arrested and brought to the Ankara Sincan No.1 F Type Prison.

Aydınlık magazine writer Emcet Olcayto, detained defendant in the scope of the second indictment of the "Ergenekon terrorist organization" was released pending trial on 11 November. Olçayto is being tried at the Istanbul 13^th High Criminal Court since 21 July 2009. He stands accused of "membership in an armed organization", "violation of the confidentiality of private life" and "illegal recording of personal data".

On 2 October, Mehmet Veysel Ateş, representative of the Kurdish Azadiya Welat newspaper, was taken into police custody in the course of an operation related to the Union of Kurdistan Communities (KCK), the umbrella organization that includes the PKK. Ateş was released subsequently.

The trial against Berivan Eker, former editor-in-chief of the Renge Heviya Jine magazine was continued on 7 December. The 6^th High Criminal Court of Diyarbakır (south-eastern Turkey) dismissed the request for Eker's release. The case was postponed to 25 January. Public prosecutor Ahmet Karaca pleaded for Eker's punishment according to Article 5 of the Turkish Criminal Code (TMY) that foresees an increase of punishment. He demanded to apply Articles 220/6 and 314/2 of the TCK and a two-count application of Article 7/2 of the Anti-Terror Law on the grounds of two issues of the magazine. Hence, the journalist is facing 21 years in prison.

On 30 April, the Diyarbakır 6^th High Criminal Court convicted Gurbet Çakar, former editor-in-chief of the Renge Heviya Jine magazine, to imprisonment of three years on charges of "membership in an illegal organization and committing a crime on behalf of the organization" and "spreading propaganda for the PKK". Due to the duration of Çakar's detention during the trial, Çakar, detained since March 2010, was released until the final decision of the Court of Appeals. The case had been opened on the grounds of calling imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan "leader of the Kurdish people" and for publishing photographs of Öcalan and PKK militants.

On 30 September, the Diyarbakır 6^th High Criminal Court dismissed the request for the release of Bedri Adanır. The journalist is the owner of the Aram Publishing House and executive of the Hawar newspaper. He stands accused of "spreading propaganda for the PKK" via news and pictures published in the newspaper. The trial will be continued on 3 March 2011. Prosecutor Adem Özcan demanded imprisonment of 50 years in total under allegations of "spreading propaganda for the PKK" and "membership in the PKK". In the context of a different case, Adanır was sentenced to five years in jail according to a four-count sentence under Article 7/2 of the Anti-Terror Law (TMY) handed down by the Diyarbakır 5^th High Criminal Court on 29 June. The file is pending at the Court of Appeals. Adanır published a book of Abdullah Öcalan's defence speeches, imprisoned leader of the PKK, made at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). The book was audited and approved by the Bursa Execution Justiceship, yet it was not given a revenue stamp by the Ministry of Culture but was forbidden. Adanır was arrested on 5 January when he entered Turkey from Iraq at the Habur check point in Silopi in the province of Şırnak (south-eastern Anatolia). Since then, Adanır has been detained in the Diyarbakır D Type Prison.

Ozan Kılınç, concessionaire and editor-in-chief of the Kurdish Azadiya Welat newspaper, is incarcerated in the Diyarbakır D Type Prison since 21 July 2010. On 9 February 2010, the Diyarbakır 5^th High Criminal Court sentenced Kılınç to 21 years and three months behind bars on charges of "making propaganda for the PKK" on the grounds of news and articles published in twelve different issues of the newspaper. The court initially sentenced the journalist to imprisonment of 15 years in total; six years and three months for "membership in an illegal organization and committing a crime on behalf of that organization" and one year three months for each issue on charges of "propaganda for an illegal organization". The Court of Appeals 9^th Criminal Chamber quashed the verdict on 6 December.

Journalist Vedat Kurşun, former editorial manager of the Kurdish Azadiya Welat newspaper, has been imprisoned since 30 January 2009. On 13 May, he was charged with "membership of the PKK organization" and "spreading propaganda for an illegal organization" by the 5^th High Criminal Court of Diyarbakır (south-eastern Turkey). Kurşun received a prison sentence of 166 years and six months. The court decreed to sentence Kurşun to 12 years and eight months, the upper limit for charges of "membership of an organization". He furthermore received a 103 counts' sentence according to article 7/2 of the Anti-Terror Law (TMY) on propaganda for an illegal organization. Kurşun is imprisoned in the Diyarbakır D Type Prison. The Court of Appeals Public Chief Prosecution overturned the sentence claiming that is was too high. The Court of Appeals 9th Chamber will announce its decision on 2 March 2011.

The owner and editor-in-chief of the İşçi Köylü ('Workers Peasants') newspaper, Barış Açıkel, served his prison sentence of four years and eight months on charges of "membership of an illegal organization". Since July 2010 however, he is kept at the Kandıra No. 2 F Type Prison because of his sentence on "making propaganda for an illegal organization" on the grounds of news and articles published in the newspaper. Açıkel is in jail since 2004, mainly under charges of "spreading propaganda for an illegal organization".

Radio Dünya ('World') publications director Kenan Karavil has been detained at the Kürkçüler F Type Prison since 10 December 2009. He is being prosecuted at the Adana 8^th High Criminal Court in the scope of the trial regarding the Union of Kurdistan Communities (KCK) Urban Structure. Karavil is facing prison terms of between eight and 22.5 years in total on charges of "committing a crime on behalf of an illegal organization" and "spreading propaganda for an illegal organization". He was arrested together with Seyithan Akyüz, Adana representative of the Azadiya Welat newspaper. Ahmet Birsin, former general publications director of Gün TV ('Day'), was also arrested in the context of the KCK operation and is being detained at the Diyarbakır D Type Prison.

National Channel Intelligence Manager Ufuk Akkaya was released from the Silivri Prison. He is on trial before the Istanbul 13^th High Criminal Court in relation to the "Action Plan against Reactionary Forces". Deniz Yıldırım, general publications director of the Aydınlık magazine, and Akkaya were detained on 9 November 2009 because they had reported about illegally recorded telephone conversations between Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the former President of Northern Cyprus, Mehmet Ali Talat, in 2004.

The Turkish G9 Platform demanded to complement the Constitution by the following sentences: "The press is free and shall not be censored. Laws embodying restrictions of press freedom shall not be enforced". The press organization furthermore requested the amendment of 27 articles of the Turkish Criminal Law (TCK) and the release of all journalists in detention. The G9 Platform is an association of eleven professional press organizations. The Platform demanded to lift all regulations that constitute a restriction of press freedom and freedom of expression within the TCK and the Anti-Terror Law (TMY).

Baha Okar, Bilim ve Gelecek ('Science and Future') magazine editor and administrative manager, and Hakan Soytemiz, editorial manager of the RED and Enternasyonal ('International') magazines, have been detained at the Silivri L Type Prison since 24 September because of their alleged affiliation to the "Revolutionary Headquarters" terrorist organization.

Cinema and TV productions supervisor Melek Seven was released pending trial on 19 June 2010 at the second hearing of the "Revolutionary Headquarters" trial before the Istanbul 9^th High Criminal Court. Seven had been behind bars since 27 April 2009.

DİHA reporter Hamdiye Çiftçi was taken into police custody together with a further ten people on 9 June in the course of the KCK/Turkey Assembly (KCK/TM) operation carried out upon the decision of the Van 3^rd High Criminal Court. Çiftçi is still being detained at the Bitlis E Type Prison.

Conscientious objector Enver Aydemir was eventually discharged from military service upon an "incapability report" issued by a military hospital after three years of torture, repression and punishments. Aydemir refused to serve in the military for religious reasons. Aydemir commented that it was not him who was incapable but the legal system not recognizing the right to conscientious objection. He was released from the Eskişehir Military Prison (north-western Anatolia) on 9 June.

Journalist Erdal Süsem, editor of the Eylül Sanat Edebiyat ('September Arts and Literature') magazine, was arrested in February 2010. The Court of Appeal's decision on a life sentence handed down to the journalist under allegations of the "attempt to change the constitutional order by force" in 2007 is still pending. Süsem was released from prison in 2006 when the Court of Appeals overturned the ruling after he had served six years in prison. The journalist is currently detained in the context of a second trial was that opened against him on charges of "membership" in the Maoist Communist Party (MKP) on the grounds of interviews he made with former detainees and convicts which were then published in the Eylül magazine. The second trial will be continued at the Istanbul 12^th High Criminal Court on 26 May.

Atılım newspaper reporters Tuncay Mat and Çağdaş Küçükbattal were released pending trial after nine months in detention. Both journalists stand trial for allegedly participating in the demolition of a base station in the Gazi district on the European side of Istanbul. In the second hearing on 29 May, the Istanbul 11^th High Criminal Court decided for the journalists' release after Mat and Küçükbattal had claimed that they followed the incident as journalists and that their prosecution was a breach of law. A total of eleven defendants are on trial, five of whom are detained. The case was postponed to 24 September. The defendants stand accused of having destroyed a base station in the course of activities of the Marxist Leninist Communist Party (MLKP). The indictment accuses both journalists of "resistance with force and threats when the crowd was dispersed", "membership in an armed terrorist organization", "harming public property" and "opposing the Law on Meetings and Demonstrations".

More than 120 people were taken into custody in the course of recent operations carried out by the police and the gendarmerie in various provinces.  Apparently, the operations targeted the KCK.  DIHA reporter Serkan Demirel from Elazığ and Azadiya Welat Elazığ representative Ali Konar were among the people arrested. On 24 May, Konar was detained upon a corresponding demand after the interrogation by the prosecutor; Demirel was released. DIHA reporter Çağdaş Kaplan who had been arrested together with another 19 people was released by the Istanbul Beşiktaş Public Prosecution on the same day.

On 20 May, the 4^th High Criminal Court of Diyarbakır (south-eastern Anatolia) released Mehdi Tanrıkulu, editorial manager of the Kurdish Azadiya Welat newspaper, pending trial. Tanrıkulu was detained on 8 April because he had insisted on presenting his defence in Kurdish. Journalist Tanrıkulu stands trial on the grounds of "spreading propaganda for an illegal organization" based on an article published in the Kurdish daily on 23 January 2010. In his article, Tanrıkulu had described imprisoned leader of the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), Adullah Öcalan, as the "Leader of the Kurdish People". Moreover, he referred to the PKK as the "Kurdish Freedom Movement". The editorial manager is facing prison sentences of more than 40 years in total due to other cases opened against him by reason of articles and news published in the Kurdish daily.

The Istanbul 9^th High Criminal Court released Dicle News Agency reporter İsmail Eskin pending trial in his first hearing after five months in detention on 18 May. Eskin had been arrested when he was covering a demonstration against conditions of detention for imprisoned PKK leader Öcalan. The 1^st Magistrate Criminal Court of Kocaeli (east of Istanbul) detained Eskin on 4 December 2009 and he was taken to the Kandıra Prison. His trial will be continued on 30 September.

On 1 April, DIHA reporter Remzi Çoşkun was beaten and arrested by the police in the course of operations directed at the militant PKK organization when he arrived at his home in the evening. DIHA stated that the police did not keep a record of the arrest. Coşkun was apparently told, "You are our guest. We will release you in the morning". He was released in the morning of 2 April.

On 7 March, Gençağa Karafazlı, the Rize representative of Birgün newspaper and Show TV was released by the Erzurum 2^nd High Criminal Court. He was in detention for almost one year. Karafazlı was taken into custody in June 2009 in the course of an operation and was then arrested under allegations of "establishing and directing an organization for organized crime". Karafazlı previously served 13.5 years in prison under allegations of "membership in an illegal organization".

Cumhuriyet newspaper writer Mustafa Balbay requested the Istanbul 13^th High Criminal Court to re-evaluate the so-called "coup diaries". He pointed out that the investigation into the diaries allegedly belonging to former Naval Forces Commander ret. Admiral Özden Örnek was separated from the Ergenekon file. Journalist Tuncay Özkan is being detained while he is being tried under allegations of "membership in the Ergenekon organization".

Writer Erdoğan Akhanlı was released pending trial at the first hearing before the Istanbul 11^th High Criminal Court on 8 December. He is tried for his alleged involvement in an armed robbery 21 years ago. Akhanlı, living in Germany, was detained when he entered Turkey in August 2010. The indictment was prepared on 25 August and seeks prison terms according to Article 146/1 of the former Turkish Criminal Code (TCK). Akhanlı was arrested when he entered Turkey on 10 August and taken to the Tekirdağ (Thrace) No.2 F Type Prison. Akhanlı came to Turkey to visit his sick father. He was not able to see his father who died in November when Akhanlı was still detained. The writer's case was observed by Turkish and international human rights organizations, writers and law institutions and political parties.

Writer Nevin Berktaş (52) was sentenced to imprisonment of ten months on charges of "propaganda for an illegal organization". The charges were based on her book entitled "Difficult places that challenge the faith: Prison Cells". The book describes the process of resistance in the prison cells where she was incarcerated herself during the time of the military coup in 1980. Due to a calculation mistake, Berktaş was imprisoned five years and seven months longer than the law actually stipulated in the context of a previous conviction. Berktaş was arrested on 3 November. She requested to take the extra time she served in prison because of the calculation mistake into account for the recent sentence. The court dismissed her request. Her lawyer appealed to the superior court of the Istanbul 9^th High Criminal Court. Berktaş was convicted after the military coup on 12 September 1980 on charges of membership of the Revolutionary Communist Union of Turkey. She received two prison sentences in 1986 and was in jail for 22 years. Berktaş, also writing fort the Proleterce Devrimci Duruş magazine ('Proletarian Revolutionary Stance'), is being incarcerated in the Bakırköy (Istanbul) Women and Children Prison.

The owner and chief editor of the Revolutionary Democracy newspaper, Erdal Güler, was released from prison after almost three years in jail. His release had previously been scheduled for the year 2014. Güler was charged with praising illegal organizations such as the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the Maoist Communist Party (MKP). Güler was convicted at the Istanbul 10^th High Criminal Court in 2007 under article 7/2 of the Anti-Terror Law (TMY) on "spreading propaganda for an illegal organization". The journalist received a monetary fine of TL 20,000 (€ 10,000). Reason for Güler's recent release is the fact that the notification was sent to the wrong address. Güler was charged with "spreading propaganda for an illegal organization" in dozens of cases. He stands furthermore accused of "praising crime and a criminal" related to a message entitled "We commemorate Mahir Çayan and his comrades with respect", published in the April 2005 issue of the "Özgür Düsün" magazine, of which he is the editor.

The Istanbul 10^th High Criminal Court rejected the release of Suzan Zengin, interpreter and employee of the İşçi Köylü newspaper by reason of the "given possibility to conceal evidence". Zengin was taken into police custody on 28 August 2009 and later on brought to the Bakırköy (Istanbul) Women and Children Prison. Her trial under allegations of "membership in an illegal organization" started on 26 August. The second hearing is scheduled for 15 February 2011. Ragıp Zarakolu, President of the Freedom of Publishing Committee of the Turkish Publishers Association (TYB), called for the release of Zengin.

The Court of Appeals 9^th Circuit approved the 6 years and three months prison sentences imposed to DİHA reporters Behdin Tunç and Faysal Tunç. The journalists were detained three years earlier and the Diyarbakır 5^th High Criminal Court found both of them guilty of "assisting and abetting the PKK organization". The decision was communicated on 17 February. The journalists were arrested and detained on 5 April 2007 and are still kept in the Diyarbakır D Type Prison. DİHA reporter for the south-eastern province of Şırnak, Haydar Haykır, was taken into custody in the district of Çizre (Şırnak) on 8 January 2008. He was arrested and taken to the Batman H Type Prison four days later on 12 January. However, it has not been confirmed yet whether these detentions are related to "journalistic activities".

The Istanbul 10^th High Criminal Court continued its hearing in the trial against 24 defendants accused of membership in or leadership of the illegal Marxist Leninist Communist Party (MLKP) on 10 December. Those detained include Füsun Erdoğan, the broadcasting coordinator of the Istanbul Özgür Radyo ("Free Radio") station, the editor of the Atılım newspaper, İbrahim Çiçek, and the daily's publications director Sedat Şenoğlu. The court dismissed the request for the release of the defendants who were not allowed to present their defence in the Kurdish language. The next hearing was set for 17 May. Erdoğan, Çiçek and Şenoğlu have been detained since 8 September 2006.

On 24 April, the Court of Appeals approved the conviction of DIHA news agency employees Ali Buluş and Mehmet Karaaslan under charges of "membership of an illegal organization". Both convicts were arrested on 19 April 2007 and taken to the Mersin E Type Prison.

DİHA Ankara reporter Emine Altınkaya was taken into custody and later on arrested together with another 40 people when she covered an event at the Ankara Youth Culture Centre on 27 November 2010. Altınkaya is being kept at the Sincan Prison and is waiting for the preparation of the indictment.

Erol Zavar, former editor-in-chief of the Odak ('Focus') magazine, received a life sentence on charges of his alleged membership in the "Resistance Movement". The decision was given by the Ankara No.2 State Security Court (DGM) on 27 June 2001. Zavar went to prison on 15 January 2001. At the Sincan No.1 F Type Prison, he underwent a total of 15 operations within four years. He had almost 50 cancer tumours removed.

Trials on Press Freedom and Freedom of Expression

Mustafa Koyuncu, editorial manager of the Afyonkarahisar Emirdağ newspaper, was acquitted by the Emirdağ Criminal Court of First Instance on 30 December. Koyuncu was facing imprisonment and a TL 440,000 (€ 220,000) compensation claim on the grounds of the article entitled "Did we have to enter the EU like that? They are abusing their position" published on 12 March 2007. Koyuncu was arrested and later on released pending trial. The journalist is tried both at the Emirdağ Criminal Court of First Instance and at the Civil Court of First Instance. He was arrested on 13 March under allegations of "insult via the media" and released pending trial one week later under the condition to publish a counterstatement.

Democratic Society Congress (DTK) Co-Chair Aysel Tuğluk was sentenced to imprisonment of ten months on 30 December. On 12 March, the Erzurum Special Authority 2^nd High Criminal Court opened a trial against Tuğluk under allegations of "praising crime and a criminal" and "spreading propaganda for the PKK" based on a speech given in Doğubayazıt (Ağrı). The court postponed the pronouncement of judgement. Accordingly, the sentence will only be executed if Tuğluk commits the same kind of crime within the coming five years.

On 30 December, the Peace and Democracy (BDP) Mayor of Siirt, Selim Sadak, was sentenced to ten months in jail. Sadak stood trial before the Diyarbakır 5^th High Criminal Court on charges of "making propaganda for the PKK". His conviction under Article 7/2 of the TMY was based on a speech Sadak delivered at a meeting in Silopi (Şırnak) in October 2008. He was initially sentenced to imprisonment of one year before the sentence was mitigated to ten months.

The trial against writer Temel Demirer on the grounds of his statement "Hrant Dink was not killed for being Armenian, but for recognising the genocide [of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in 1915]" was continued on 30 December before the Ankara 2^nd Criminal Court of First Instance. Demirer is sued under Article 301 of the TCK ("insults" to the Turkish state). Saying "I do not let anybody call my state a murderer", Demirer tries to annul the approval for his case which was issued by Justice Minister Mehmet Ali Şahin at the administrative court. The trial will be continued on 3 March 2011.

As reported on 3 December, the 1^st Civil Court of First Instance of Ankara fined the newspaper Birgün and its columnist  Fikri Sağlar for attacking the personal rights of former Chief of Staff Gen. Yaşar Büyükanıt and his wife Filiz Büyükanıt in Sağlar's column titled "Was Büyükanıt given the file?". The court accepted the suit for damages in the amount of € 50,000 but ruled for a fine of € 8500. The column that appeared in Birgün on May 15, 2008 had claimed that the Prime Minister had given a file to Gen. Büyükanıt, Chief of Staff at the time, regarding his wife's spending habits in the meeting that took place at Dolmabahçe Palace. The court referred to the decision of the Court of Appeals that quashed the initial verdict of the case by reason of an "insufficient investigation". The superior court had decreed against "insult" and said that the article should be assessed within the scope of press freedom.

The Court of Appeals 9^th Chamber quashed the Malatya High Criminal Court's verdict for the acquittal of Kurdish singer Ferhat Tunç. Thereupon, Tunç presented his defence against the reversal of judgement at the Istanbul High Criminal Court on 28 December 2010. Tunç was tried and later on acquitted of charges of "spreading propaganda for the [illegal] Maoist Communist Party" (MKP) on the grounds of a concert at the 2^nd Nazımiye Düzgün Baba Festival on 12 August 2006.

The former editorial manager and concessionaire of the Kurdish newspaper Azadiya Welat, Emine Demir, received prison terms of 138 years under charges of "spreading propaganda for the PKK". The sentence is based on articles Demir had accepted to be published in the paper. The 24-year-old journalist was convicted by the Diyarbakır 5^th High Criminal Court. The court board ruled for an 84-count sentence applying Article 314 of the Turkish Criminal Law (TCK) on "committing a crime on behalf of an organization without being a member of that organization" based on 84 items published in 2008 and 2009 that allegedly "spread propaganda for an illegal organization". The court decreed for a one year and six months punishment for each article, adding up to prison terms of 138 years. Additionally, an arrest warrant was released in Demir's name.

The case against journalist Nazlı Ilıcak at the Istanbul 2^nd Criminal Court of First Instance on the grounds of alleged "insult" of Hasan Atilla Uğur, detained defendant of the Ergenekon case, "via the media" was continued on 27 December. Prosecutor Alper Tunga demanded prison terms of two years for journalist Ilıcak. The charges stem from an article entitled "Unsolved murders on the agenda once again" published in the nation-wide Sabah newspaper on 2 December 2008. She wrote: "It was said that the order to kill Rıdvan Özden, Regiment Commander of Mardin [south-east], was organized by Atilla Uğur". Ilıcak was previously convicted in both a compensation case and a criminal trial by reason of her article "The immunity of the President", in which she had described Osman Kaçmaz, President Judge of the 1^st High Criminal Court of Sincan (Ankara) as "officious".

Journalist and writer Nedim Şener was acquitted on 23 December. Şener was tried before the Istanbul 2^nd Criminal Court of First Instance under allegations of "insult", the "attempt to influence a fair trial" and "violating the confidentiality of communication" on the grounds of his book "The Hrant Dink murder and the Intelligence Lies".

Emrullah Özbey, owner of the News 49 ('Haber 49') newspaper published in Muş (south-eastern Turkey), is facing prison terms of two years before the Muş 2^nd Criminal Court of First Instance. He is tried on the grounds of having criticized a punishment regarding a news item about an examination for handicapped people that had been allegedly cancelled with a forged signature. The former Provincial National Education Deputy Head Sadettin Yıldırım filed the complaint against Özbey. The first hearing was held on 23 December. The trial will be continued on 25 February.

Politician Mahmut Alınak was sentenced to 14 months and 17 days in prison on 22 December. The Kars High Criminal Court convicted Alınak under Article 125 of the TCK because Alınak had criticized the police for torturing a person named Tahsin Orman in Digor the previous year. The politician had called torture a "brute application". Alınak is also tried together with another 94 defendants at the Kars 2^nd Criminal Court of First Instance on charges of "spreading propaganda for a terrorist organization" because they had sent a petition in Kurdish to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to protest the closure of the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP).

DTK Co-Chair Aysel Tuğluk faces prison terms of between 15 and 75 years. Prosecutor Ergun Tokgöz based his plea on twelve speeches delivered by Tuğluk on the solution for the Kurdish question. He demanded a 12-count sentence under allegations of "making propaganda for an illegal organization" and "committing a crime on behalf of an illegal organization without being a member of that organization".

Adana MP Dengir Mir Mehmet Fırat from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) filed a case against journalist Hacı Boğatekin, owner of the Gerger Fırat newspaper. Boğatekin is facing a 10,000 Turkish Lira (TL) compensation claim (approx. € 4,760). The case was continued on 14 December. AKP MP Fırat launched the trial on the grounds of an article entitled "Mercy Miro Mercy Piro" published on 20 September 2009. Fırat claims an "attack on his personal rights". Gerger Fırat newspaper has a circulation of a couple of hundred issues. The next hearing of the case is scheduled for 10 February 2011.

The trial against journalist Ercan Atay, editor-in-chief of the local Batman newspaper, was started on 13 December. The charges against the journalist stem from publishing an e-mail sent by the PKK regarding a road side bomb attack in Batman on 31 July that caused the death of four human rights advocators. The e-mail was published in the daily on 8 August. The Press Council and the International Press Institute National Committee expressed their support for the journalist.

Referans newspaper writer Cengiz Çandar is facing a prison sentence of between one and three years under allegations of "insulting a public servant because of his duty". The charges are based on Çandar's criticism of the fact that the secret witness of the Hrant Dink murder case was not taken to court in the hearing on 8 February. The case was heard before the Bakırköy (Istanbul) Criminal Court of First Instance on 13 December. Çandar is facing imprisonment of between one and three years. In an article entitled "Mocking Hrant and the justice" published on 9 February 2010, Çandar wrote, "Well, no justice is going to happen in that court room, it just cannot happen. The Hrant Dink murder case is being tried in such an informal manner, justice will not happen from being to free-and-easy, it cannot happen".

Hasip Kaplan, Member of Parliament for Şırnak (south-eastern Turkey) for the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) stands accused of an "attack on the personal rights" of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Kaplan was facing a compensation claim of TL 20,000 (€ 10,000) based on his speech delivered at an event organized by the New Cyprus Party (YKP) in Cyprus on 11 December 2010. Erdoğan's joint attorneys put forward that Kaplan's speech had contained accusations that went beyond the limits of criticism.

A trial was opened against Taraf newspaper writer Neşe Düzel on the grounds of an interview she made with M. Şerif Gençdal, spokesman of the group that came to Turkey from Iraq in October 2009. In her defence, journalist Düzel stated, "We are being tried for what is deemed a crime in the world of the prosecutor's mentality". A total of 37 cases against Taraf newspaper employees were heard at the Kadıköy (Istanbul) Court on 10 December, the date of Düzel's hearing. Düzel is indicted under Article 215 of the Turkish Criminal Court (TCK) on "praising crime and a criminal". Reporter Dicle Baştürk is tried under Article 125TCK on "insult" and journalist Fırat Alkaç stands accused of the "attempt to influence a fair trial" according to Article 288. All trials are being heard before the Kadıköy 2^nd Criminal Court of First Instance.

On 7 December, publisher İrfan Sancı and interpreter İsmail Yerguz were acquitted by the Istanbul 2^nd Criminal Court of First Instance. They stood trial on charges of "obscenity in their publications" based on three books of the "Sexual books" series published by Sel Publishing. The court had requested the opinion of the Prime Ministerial Board for the Protection of Children from Harmful Publications despite a report previously obtained from Galatasaray University attesting that the books were "works of literature that could not be interfered against". On 25 May, the court had obtained the academic expert report on the three works entitled "The exploits of a young Don Juan" by Guillaume Apollinaire, "Letters of a Well-Mannered and Knowledgeable Bourgeois Woman" by the French writer P.V. and Ben Mila's "The Fairy's Pendulum". It read that the books feature literature and would not constitute the basis for a conviction. The court acquitted Sancı and Yerguz according to Article 226/7 of the Turkish Criminal Court stipulating that "provided that access to children is prevented, the provisions of this Article shall not apply to scientific, artistic and literary works".

The trial against Ahmet Türk, former Co-Chair of the defunct DTP, on the grounds of seven different speeches he delivered will be continued before the Diyarbakır 4^th High Criminal Court on 10 March 2011.

Journalist Mustafa Kemal Çelik, executive of the Batman Post newspaper, is being litigated on charges of "praising crime and a criminal" because of an interview with the family of Mahsum Korkmaz, a militant of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) who was killed in 1986. The case was opened in December. Fehmi and Maşallah Korkmaz are also tried in the scope of the case against Çelik under Article 215 TCK. The case will be continued at the Batman 2^nd Magistrate Criminal Court on 9 March 2011.

Lawyer Şiar Rişvanoğlu was be tried before the Adana 2^nd Criminal Court of First Instance in December. He is facing a compensation claim from the Ministry of the Interior on the grounds of a critic press release related to Metin Alataş, distributor of the Kurish daily Azadiya Welat who was found hung in a tree in an orange plantation in Adana in April this year. The coming hearing was set for 12 April 2011. Rişvanoğlu is also tried at the Special Authority 6^th High Criminal Court of Adana (eastern Mediterranean coast) on the grounds of his thoughts voiced in different programs Rişvanoğlu attended on ROJ TV between 1 and 3 May. In the program on 3 May, he said: "A commission has to be required to confidentially investigate all political murders in Kurdistan, all conspiracies, the massacres of the Botaş death wells, mass murders and rapes". In this case, Rişvanoğlu is facing imprisonment of up to 13.5 years according to Article 220 of the Turkish Criminal Law (TCK) under charges of "spreading propaganda for the PKK or the organization's aims". The trial was postponed to 11 January 2011.

Writer Mehmet Güler and publisher Ragıp Zarakolu, official of the Belge Publishing Company are tried at the Istanbul 10^th High Criminal court on the grounds of the book "The KCK file/Global state and Kurds without a state". The defendants are charged with "publishing statements of the PKK", and "spreading PKK propaganda". The file was submitted to the Public Prosecution on 2 December for the preparation of the final speech of the prosecution. The trial will be continued on 10 March 2011.

Dicle News Agency (DİHA) reporter İbrahim Açıkyer was sentenced to ten months behind bars under charges of "spreading propaganda for the PKK organization according to article 7/2 of the Anti-Terror Law (TMY). Açıkyer and another 13 defendants had been taken into police custody when they were attending a symposium organized by the Konak District Youth Parliament of the banned pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) on 27 July 2006 in Izmir. In the hearing on 25 November, all 14 defendants were convicted by the Izmir 10^th High Criminal Court.

On 25 November, the trial against 34 people under allegations of "spreading propaganda for the PKK" was opened. Among the defendants are Taraf newspaper writer Orhan Miroğlu, former DEP member Leyla Zana and Selim Sadak who were imposed to a ban from politics with the closure of the DTP. The prosecutor demanded prison terms of between six months and 20 years for the defendants according to Article 117 of the Political Parties Law (No. 2820). The Ankara Public Chief Prosecution reminded that the decision was also based on the decree of the Constitutional Court to ban the 34 defendants from politics. Hence, this is the second prosecution for the same action. Miroğlu was sentenced to imprisonment of two years and one month by the Ankara 11^th High Criminal Court on the grounds of speeches delivered on 25 March 2007 when he was Chairman of the DTP. That file is still pending at the Court of Appeals.

A trial was opened against Hanefi Avcı on the grounds of his book "Simons in the Golden Horn" in November before the Ankara 2^nd Criminal Court of First Instance. Istanbul Deputy Chief of Police Ali Fuat Yılmazer claims that Avcı "insulted and harmed his reputation" via the media". If the indictment prepared by Public Prosecutor Abdulvahap Yaren is accepted, Avcı will be facing up to eight years and four months in prison. Avcı, former Chief of Police of Erzurum, is being detained in the Silivri Prison since 28 September in the scope of the "Revolutionary Headquarters" trial.

Journalist Kemal Göktaş from Vatan newspaper will be prosecuted before the Istanbul Special Authority High Criminal Court on the grounds of his book "The Murder of Hrant Dink - Media, Judiciary, State". The Istanbul 2^nd High Criminal Court accused Göktaş of "opposing the state security" and forwarded the file to the Special Authority High Criminal Court.

Milliyet newspaper reporter Namık Durukan and Günlük newspaper official Filiz Koçali were acquitted on 22 November. Durukan was litigated over his reporting about an announcement of Duran Kalkan, executive of PKK. Koçali stood trial on the grounds of her interview with Murat Karayılan, Head of the Steering Council of the Democratic Confederation of Kurdistan (KCK), the umbrella organization that includes the PKK. Both journalists stood accused of "spreading propaganda for an illegal organization" as stipulated in Article 7/2 of the Anti-Terror Act. They were each facing up to 7.5 years in prison. The Istanbul 10^th High Criminal Court decided for the defendants' acquittal. The court decided that the article was to be assessed as a news item and thus the offence of organizational propaganda was not constituted. Also journalist Filiz Koçali and newspaper official Ramazan Pekgöz from the Kurdish Günlük newspaper stood accused of the same charges on the grounds of an interview held with KCK executive Murat Karayılan. Right after Durukan's acquittal, the Istanbul 13^th High Criminal Court also acquitted defendants Koçali and Pekgöz.

The Ministry of Justice recently issued permission for the prosecution of Taraf newspaper writer Rasim Ozan Kütahyalı under article 301 of the Turkish Criminal Law (TCK). The General Staff Presidency complained about the journalist on the grounds of his article entitled "You are either vile or stupid...". The ministry had previously denied permission for an investigation about Kütahyalı requested by reason of three articles published under the main title "You are not a statesman, you are a civil servant, İlker Başbuğ" (former  Head of General Staff).

The mayor of Batman, a province in the predominantly Kurdish south-east of the country, Nejdet Atalay, was sentenced to two years and six months in prison. Atalay was convicted on 22 November because he called imprisoned PKK leader Öcalan "respectable" and "the leader of the Kurdish people". The Diyarbakır 4^th High Criminal Court based its verdict on an interview Atalay gave to a local newspaper in Batman last year. He was charged with "spreading propaganda for the PKK organization". At the same time, Mehmet Şerif Gençdal, spokesman of the Group for a Peaceful and Democratic Solution (of the Kurdish question), received a 20-month prison sentence under the same allegations. The same court again found the defendant guilty of "spreading propaganda for an illegal organization". The allegations in this case stemmed from a speech Gençdal gave in Cizre after he had entered the country from northern Iraq via the Habur check point. In another issue, 554 police records have piled up in relation to 19 deputies of the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) by reasons of speaking Kurdish in parliament and seeking a democratic and peaceful solution for the Kurdish question. The BDP members are facing imprisonment of up to 2,473 years in total. The former co-chairs Ahmet Türk and Aysel Tuğluk of the banned Democratic Society Party (DTP) are facing prison sentences of up to 139.5 years in total. After the Constitutional Court decided for a ban of the pro-Kurdish political party, the status as members of parliament was lifted for the former DTP members, including Türk and Tuğluk. Emine Ayna, BDP deputy of Mardin (south-eastern Anatolia), is one of the party's parliamentarians with the highest number of police records. The prison threat she is currently facing amounts to a total of 335 years based on 69 police records. She is closely followed by Özdal Üçer, deputy of Van (south-eastern Turkey) with 57 records and the Şırnak deputy Sevahir Bayındır.

The Prosecutor of Erzincan (north-eastern Anatolia), Osman Şanal, litigates Cumhuriyet newspaper reporter İlhan Taşçı over his freshly published book "Justice in a gown" ('Cüppeli Adalet'). He filed a compensation claim against the journalist on the grounds of the book cover which features a man with a green cap and a characteristic beard in a prosecutor's gown. His complaint is based on an alleged resemblance of that person with himself and on "interjections" used in several sentences. The first hearing of the trial against Taşçı is scheduled for 27 January 2011 before the Ankara 1^st Civil Court of First Instance. Journalist Taşçı was awarded by the Turkish Journalists Society (TGC) in the field of "News-Politics" for his series entitled "The congregation could not be touched" published on 13 August 2009.

Yet another trial was opened against Radikal newspaper reporter İsmail Saymaz. He is facing a TL 7,000 (€3,500) compensation claim filed by Osman Şanal, Prosecutor of Erzurum (central Anatolia) on the grounds of his book "The Postmodern Jihad". The book deals with the Erzurum-Erzincan connections of the Ergenekon investigation. Şanal was appointed "Press Prosecutor' after his special authority had been lifted. He was described as a "supporter of postmodernism" in Saymaz's book. Meanwhile, journalist Saymaz has a total of 12 trials pending against him and faces up to 97 years in jail in total.

Taraf newspaper writer and Kurdish politician Orhan Miroğlu is facing yet another trial because of his article "I cannot sleep with the waxing moon" published in the nation-wide daily on 2 November 2009. The indictment prepared by the Kadıköy (Istanbul) Chief Prosecution seeks Miroğlu's prosecution under charges of inciting the public to hatred and hostility. He wrote, "The truth is that Kurds and Turks started to be afraid of each other. Maybe it is the first time in history that the Turks are that much afraid of Kurds after an age-long rebellion. In the end, they sent them to boroughs and villages in the Aegean region and Anatolia on trucks and by train together with their families regardless if young or old". The first hearing is scheduled for 3 March 2011 before the Kadıköy 2^nd Criminal Court of First Instance.

Sociologist İsmail Beşikçi and lawyer Zeycan Balcı Şimşek appeared before the Istanbul 11^th High Criminal Court for the second time on 12 November. Both defendants stand accused of "spreading propaganda for the PKK". Şimşek is the editorial manager of the "Contemporary Law and Society" magazine as the publication of the Contemporary Lawyers Association (ÇHD) Istanbul Branch. Beşikçi wrote an article for the magazine entitled "The right of nations to self determination and the Kurds". In Friday's hearing, the prosecutor put forward that Beşikçi wrote the word "Qandil" with a "q" instead of "k". Both un-detained defendants are each facing up to 7.5 years in jail. More than 50 lawyers take care of their defence. The trial is being observed by human rights advocators and journalist organizations. The final decision is expected for 4 March 2011.

Journalists Neşe Düzel and Editor-in-Chief Adnan Demir of the Taraf newspaper are facing prison sentences of 7.5 years each on the grounds of interviews with Zübeyir Aydar and Remzi Kartal, executives of Kongra Gel, a parliament-like structure of the KCK. The first hearing was held before the Istanbul 11^th High Criminal Court on 10 November. The interview lead by Düzel was published in three parts on 5-7 April 2010 and entitled "A period of conflict was entered". The Istanbul Public Prosecutor, Hakan Karaali, put forward that "the contents of the interviews imply to the readers that resorting to violence was a necessary and rightful measure".

The Istanbul Public Chief Prosecution prepared an indictment on journalist and writer Hıncal Uluç under charges of defamation according to Article 125 of the Turkish Criminal Court (TCK). Uluç is accused of alleged insult of Adnan Sezgin via the media. Adnan is sports director at the renowned Galatasaray football club. Should the indictment be accepted by the Istanbul Magistrate Criminal Court, the journalist would face imprisonment of between three months and two years because of his article published in the "Photomatch" newspaper.

The 1^st Criminal Court of First Instance of Silivri (west of Istanbul) convicted Hakan Taştan and Turan Topal of "illegally registering personal data". Both un-detained defendants had been arrested and tried because of alleged missionary activities for Protestantism. Taştan and Topal were acquitted of charges of "inciting hatred and hostility" and "insulting 'Turkishness'" under which they had been facing prison sentences of up to four years each according to the Turkish Criminal Law (TMY). The case file of Taştan and Topal was one out of 73 files that were granted permission for an investigation and prosecution by former Minister of Justice Mehmet Ali Şahin. The court acquitted both defendants of charges related to Article 216 on "inciting hatred and hostility amongst the public and humiliation of the public" and Article 301criminalizing "Insulting the Turkish People, Republic of Turkey and Governmental Institutions and Bodies" by reason of "lack of definite and convincing evidence". However, the defendants received a nine-month prison sentence each since they were found guilty of charges of "registering personal data". Due to a lack of criminal record, the penalties were mitigated to seven months and 15 days each. Subsequently, the sentences were converted into monetary fines of TL 4,500 (€ 2,250) each, taking into account the defendants' remorse throughout the trial period regarding "their personal, social and economic situation".

Taraf newspaper writer Rasim Ozan Kütahyalı was sentenced to a monetary fine of TL 14,000 (€ 7,000) in compensation on the grounds of calling Canan Arıtman, Izmir Deputy of the Republican People's Party (CHP) "racist-fascist". The decision of the Kadıköy (Istanbul) Civil Court of First Instance was communicated on 8 November. In his article published in Taraf on 25 November 2009, Kütahyalı wrote, "(...) What does it mean that the racist-fascist Izmir deputy of the CHP is that popular?" On 22 May 2009, people in Izmir had thrown stones at a convoy of the now banned pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP), including former Co-chair Ahmet Türk. Eleven people were injured in the incident. Several people filed a complaint against Kütahyalı and Cemal saying that the city was associated with 'fascism', namely the Izmir Provincial General Assembly President, CHP member Serdar Değirmenci, and assembly member and artist of the Izmir State Classic Turkish Music Choir İdris Ercan. The trial is still pending.

On 4 November, the Diyarbakır 4^th High Criminal Court decided for the acquittal of Kurdish singer Ferhat Tunç. Charges of "spreading propaganda for an illegal organization" and "committing a crime on behalf of a terrorist organization" had been pressed against the artist on the grounds of his statement made at the 1^st Eruh-Çirav Nature and Culture Arts Festival (south-eastern province of Siirt) on 15 August 2009. Tunç was sued under Article 220/6 of the Turkish Criminal Court and Article 7/2 of the Anti-Terror Law. He was facing 15 years behind bars.

The Kurtalan Criminal Court of First Instance handed down a five-month prison sentence to Nejdet Atalay, Mayor of Batman and member of the pro-Kurdish BDP. He was convicted because he spoke Kurdish at the opening ceremony of an election office in Kurtalan on 17 February 2009.

Ali Suat Ertosun, member of the Judges and Prosecutors Supreme Council (HSYK) and former Prisons and Arrest Stations General Manager, filed a compensation claim against Taylan Tanay, official of the Contemporary Lawyers Association (ÇHD), and bianet website co-ordinator Ertuğrul Kürkçü. The first hearing of the case was held on 2 November. Ertosun claims TL 15,000 (€ 7,500) for an alleged attack on his personal rights based on the article entitled "Ali Suat Ertosun's place is not in the HSYK but in the dock", published on 31 July 2010. The trial is heard before the Ankara 25^th Civil Court of First Instance. The court postponed the case for two weeks to allow Ertosun's attorney time for the revision of the rebuttal petition submitted by the defence lawyer of defendant Tanay. At the same time, court president Judge Gürkan Ahmet Gençkaya is awaiting a reply from the Kağıthane (Istanbul) District Police Directorate. Procedural objections will be heard in the coming hearing on 27 January 2011.

Ali Suat Ertosun filed another compensation claim against ÇHD President Selçuk Kozğaçlı. Lawyer Kozağaçlı had harshly criticized the reward of the Medal for Public Service to Ertosun, saying that he was responsible for the death of 30 detainees in the course of prison operations. Kozağaçlı is tried at the Ankara 9^th Magistrate Criminal Court. Additionally, he faces a monetary fine of TL 25,000 (€ 12,500) in compensation in the scope of the case heard at the Ankara 21st Civil Court of First Instance. The latter case will be continued on 8 March 2011. The next hearing of the other trial is scheduled for 17 February 2011.

Erdal Güler, the owner and editor of the Devrimci Demokrasi ('Revolutionary Democracy') periodical, was released after three years in prison on charges of writing articles praising organisations such as the Maoist Communist Party (MKP). His trial before the Istanbul 10^th High Criminal Court is still pending. The coming hearing will be held on 3 February 2011. Güler is prosecuted under Article 7 of the Anti-Terror Law because of the 37^th issue of the newspaper published in March 2004. He will also appear at court in the scope of another trial under the same allegations on 19 April 2011.

Cem Büyükçakır, founder and publications director of the HaberinYeri.net website, was sentenced to imprisonment of eleven months because of a readers comment that implied that President Abdullah Gül was of Armenian origin. The comment was removed from the site upon a warning.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan filed a lawsuit against Hürriyet newspaper and the nation-wide daily's editor-in-chief Oktay Ekşi on the grounds of the column entitled "We have not been as critical as we should". The article criticized the government's policies on the construction of the Hydroelectric Power Plants (HES) in the Ikizdere Valley in the eastern Black Sea region. The column was published on 28 October 2010. The petition claims an "attack on PM Erdoğan's personal rights and moral personality" and seeks compensation of TL 100,000 (€ 50,000) including interest. After the publication of the article on subject, Ekşi issued a short note of apology and resigned as chief editor. The trial will start on 15 February 2011.

PM Erdoğan and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) are pressing charges against poet and writer Ataol Behramoğlu. The compensation claim stems from Behramoğlu's statements voiced on television. The writer is prosecuted over his utterances made as a guest of the program "Neural Zone" ('Tarafsız Bölge') broadcasted on the Turkish news channel CNN Türk on 12 January 2010. The trial will be continued before the Ankara 15^th Civil Court of First Instance on 2011.

Semra Pelek, former editor of Akşam newspaper, and Mustafa Dolu, the daily's editor-in-chief, appeared at court on 1 November in the scope of the case filed against them by retired General İbrahim Fırtına, former Air Forces Commander. Both journalists stand trial on the grounds of a news article about Fırtına's statement given to the prosecution in the context of the "Ergenekon Investigation". Pelek is tried for editing the article entitled ""Questions to Fırtına from Aydın Doğan, Rahmi Koç and Akçakoca" published on 5 January 2010. The article was continued on page 16 of the same issue under the heading "I reject, I curse". The Bakırköy (Istanbul) 2^nd Criminal Court of First Instance postponed the case to 29 March 2011 when Pelek is going to present her defence. Public Prosecutor Pircan Barut Emre prepared the indictment on 1 March. He demands prison sentences of up to eight years each for both journalists. The indictment is based on two articles of the Turkish Criminal Code (TCK), i.e. Article 285 on "Violation of communications" and Article 288 regarding an "attempt at affecting a fair judicial process". Dolu submitted his defence in writing to the court at the beginning of the trial. He put forward that he was not responsible for the news item and pointed to page editor Pelek.

Taraf newspaper reporter Mehmet Baransu is facing imprisonment under charges of "disclosing information related to the security and political interests of the state". The charges are based on the news item entitled "Aslan Pasha's guilty ears" published on 30 August 2010. The indictment seeks prison terms of between five to ten years under article 329 of the Turkish Criminal Law (TCK) on "Disclosure of information relating to the security and political interests of the State". The news item in the nation-wide daily read that Deputy Chief of General Staff, Aslan Güner, had "signed a scandalizing procedure" in his time on duty as Lieutenant General at the Intelligence Office Presidency in 2007. It was furthermore said that the General Staff Electronic Systems (GES) purchased from Israel with the alleged purpose to "wiretap members of the [militant] Kurdistan Workers Party [PKK]" was actually bought to eavesdrop on high-profile people.

The 2^nd Criminal Court of First Instance in Gaziantep (eastern Mediterranean) handed down a three-month prison sentence to journalist Murat Güreş on 12 October. He was found guilty of "insult via the media" of Ömer Küsbeoğlu, President of the Union of Chambers of Tradesmen and Craftsmen. On 12 October, the court decreed to convert the prison sentence into a monetary fine of TL 3,480 (approx. € 1,750). He has to pay a further TL 1,000 (€ 500) for the attorney's fee. Güreş is the editorial manager of the Gaziantep Hakimiyet newspaper ('Gaziantep Sovereignty') from Gaziantep at the eastern tip of the Mediterranean coast. He was convicted according to Article 125 of the Turkish Criminal Law (TCK). In the article entitled "Küsbeoğlu's political dump" published on 18 January 2010, Güreş criticized the administrative attitude which he claimed to be stemming from Küsbeoğlu as a member of the steering board of the Chamber of Tradesmen. A trial regarding a TL 20,000 (€ 10,000) compensation claim filed by Küsbeoğlu against Güreş is stil pending before the Gaziantep Criminal Court of First Instance.

The Diyarbakır 6^th High Criminal Court continued the trial against former DEP MP Leyla Zana on 12 October. On 21 March 2007, the Kurdish politician had delivered a speech at the Newroz celebrations and had called Jalal Talabani, the current President of Iraq and a leading Kurdish politician, Massoud Barzani, current President of the pre-dominantly Kurdish region of northern Iraq and leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, and imprisoned PKK leader Öcalan the "three leaders of the Kurdish people". The Court of Appeals reversed the previous judgement of the local court. Zana had received a prison sentence of two years based on charges of "spreading propaganda for a terrorist organization". Now, the court re-tries Zana's case. The case had initially been filed under charges of "acting on behalf of and membership of a terrorist organization" according to article 7 of the Anti-Terror Law. In the course of the trial, charges of "praising crime and a criminal" were additionally pressed against Zana because of statements made in her defence speech. However, Zana was acquitted of the latter charges.

The Diyarbakır 4^th High Criminal Court sentenced Kurdish Politician Hatip Dicle to imprisonment of one year and eight months by reason of praising incarcerated PKK leader Öcalan. Dicle is a former deputy of the dissolved Democracy Party (DEP) and the former Co-Chair of the Democratic Society Congress (DTK). The court convicted Dicle under article 7/2 of the Anti-Terror Law (TMY) on "spreading propaganda for a terrorist organization". His lawyer Feride Laçin explained that her client is being tried in the scope of the KCK case anyways on the grounds of his opinion on the Kurdish question voiced in front of his electorate in Bingöl (south-eastern Turkey) in 2009 and because of other actions from the past.

The case against human rights advocator Hakan Tahmaz and journalist İbrahim Çeşmecioğlu from the Birgün newspaper has reached its final stage. Tahmaz and Çeşmecioğlu are facing imprisonment of up to three years each on the grounds of an interview with executives of the militant Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) held on the Qandil Mountain, the location of the PKK's base in Northern Iraq. The interview was published in the Birgün daily on 9 August 2008. The trial was continued on 12 October at the Istanbul 10^th High Criminal Court. Both defendants stand accused of "publishing statements of PKK/KONGRAGEL" according to article 6/2 of the Anti-Terror Act (TMY). Reason for the prosecution is the interview entitled "Unilateral Ceasefire Amplifies the Problem". A final decision of the case is expected for 24 March 2011.

Star newspaper reporter Helin Şahin is prosecuted together with the daily's editor-in-chief, İbrahim Sarp, and the editor of the paper's website, Saffet Serdar Akbıyık, on the grounds of the criticism of a mass release regarding the "Sledgehammer" case voiced in a news item. The first hearing of the case was held before the Istanbul 14^th High Criminal Court on 8 October. Şahin's request for the recusal of Judge Erkan Çanak was dismissed due to "lack of evidence". It was decided to hear litigant jugdesYılmaz Alp and Tuncay Aslan as witnesses. They complained about Şahin because of a news item on mass releases in the scope of the "Sledghehammer" trial.

The first hearing of the case against Ahmet Şık and Ertuğrul Mavioğlu, co-authors of the two volumes "Understanding the counter guerrilla and Ergenekon" and "Who is who in Ergenekon" was held before the Kadıköy (Istanbul) 2^nd Criminal Court of First Instance on 8 October. Both journalists are facing prison sentences of up to 4.5 years under charges of "violation the secrecy of an investigation". Both defendants presented their defence. They are indicted under Article 285 of the Turkish Criminal Law (TCK) on "violation of communications". The court decided to inquire the Bakırköy Public Prosecution in order to determine the date of printing. The case was postponed to 21 January 2011.

After the first hearing on 7 September of the case against journalist Aziz Özer, the Public Prosecutor is going to prepare his final speech for the second hearing. Özer, editorial manager of the Güney magazine, is charged with "spreading propaganda for the PKK on the grounds of a caricature and a story about an armed conflict depicted from the view of a PKK member. The Istanbul 9^th High Criminal Court prosecutes Özer by reason of on the article entitled "The story of an incredible three-day resistance" written by Mehmet Söğüt and a short picture story called "The Judge" by Meray Ülgen, published in the 51^st issue of the magazine from January-February-March 2010. The Istanbul Public Prosecutor, Hakan Karaali, opened the case on 11 May under article 7/2 of the Anti-Terror Law (TMY). He demanded prison sentence of 7.5 years for the journalist. The case was postponed to 17 February 2011.

Abdurruhman Saran, Provincial Chair of the Labour Party (EMEP) in Aydın, was acquitted of charges of "praising crime and a criminal" at the first hearing of this case on 7 October. Saran was indicted on the grounds of his works in the run-up to the local elections, attending the Newroz celebrations and a commemoration ceremony for leftist revolutionary Deniz Gezmiş on 6 May. The Aydın 2^nd Magistrate Criminal Court acquitted Saran of allegations of "agitating a crowd on behalf of a terrorist organization" and "praising Abdullah Öcalan". In the past, the politician was sentenced to imprisonment of six months by the Aydın 1^st Criminal Court of First Instance. The conviction was based on a breach of the Elections Law because he had posted a banner. The file is pending at the Court of Appeals.

The Ankara 11^th High Criminal Court decided to bring Kurdish politician Sebahat Tuncel to court on compulsion. The BDP Istanbul MP stands accused of "praising crime and a criminal" in a brochure that was distributed in the BDP Women Assembly Office. At the hearing on 7 October, Court President Hasan Şatır announced that Tuncel's address was registered as unknown. Tuncel is being prosecuted together with another 22 members of the DTP women assembly under Article 215 of the TCK. The trial will continue on 11 February 2011.

Haldun Açıksözlü, actor and director of the theatre play "Laz Marks" is sued under allegations of "insulting the prime minister" in the play. He is facing prison terms of up to two years and eight month. The show has been on stage for one year in cooperation with Leman Culture and 'Canşenlik' Actors. The Rize Magistrate Criminal Court will continue the trial on 3 February 2011. Additionally, three investigations have been launched about Açıksözlü.

The Istanbul 14^th High Criminal Court acquitted Taraf newspaper reporter Mehmet Baransu on 6 October. Public Prosecutor Mustafa Çavuşoğlu pleaded for prison sentence because Baransu had published allegedly "confidential" documents regarding the Aktütün raid. The journalist was prosecuted under article 329/1 of the Turkish Criminal Code (TCK) on "Disclosure of information relating to the security and political interests of the State" on the grounds of publishing "classified" documents. Baransu announced that on 7 October his lawyer was going to file a criminal complaint on his behalf about Generals İlker Başbuğ and Hasan Iğsız, then Chief and Deputy Chief of General Staff respectively, in regard to the raid. Baransu stood accused of publishing immediate data from reports of the General Staff Presidency in his articles entitled "The Aktütün Secrets" and "What was experienced to the minute at the General Staff" published on 13 April 2009. It was claimed that the articles contain "documents with a classified status related to national security".

On 3 October, the Uludere Criminal Court of First Instance handed down a prison sentence of six months to the Mayor of Uludere, Şükran Sincar, because of a speech in Kurdish in the run-up to the local elections. The court announced to postpone the sentence on a five-year probation period. Sincar appealed the decision saying that the next elections were ahead and that she was going to address her electorate in Kurdish again.

The Co-chair of the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), Selahattin Demirtaş, was convicted of "propaganda for an illegal organization" and received a ten-month prison sentence. Demirtaş, then Diyarbakır branch president of the Human Rights Foundation, was punished for a statement he made about the detention conditions of Abdullah Öcalan. In the hearing on 28 September, the Diyarbakır High Criminal Court initially handed down a one-year prison sentence which was then mitigated to ten months. The pronouncement of judgement was postponed. Additionally, the court decided for the suspension of sentence on probation of five years. Demirtaş had previously been convicted of "praising crime and a criminal" and received a prison sentence of one year and three months. The Court of Appeal reversed the decision and requested Demirtaş' prosecution over charges of "propaganda for an illegal organization".

A total of 44 cases against Taraf newspaper employees were heard at the Kadıköy (Istanbul) 2^nd High Criminal Court of First Instance on 10 December. Four new trials were opened on charges of "violating secrecy" and "insult via written messages". General Publications Director Ahmet Altan said in his defence: "The prosecutor does either not read my writings at all or he is prejudiced". His assistant Yasemin Çongar is being sued on charges of "violating secrecy"; editorial manager Adnan Demir is charged with the "attempt to influence a fair trial", "disclosure of visuals and audible material related to private life", "violation of secrecy", "praising crime and a criminal", "not publishing a disclaimer" and "insulting the memory of Atatürk". Journalist Neşe Düzel is charged with "praising crime and a criminal", Markar Eseyan,  Melih Altınok, Mehmet Baransu, Burhan Ekinci, Fikret Karagöz and Bünyamin Demirkan stand accused of "violation of secrecy", Yıldıray Oğur is alleged of "insulting the memory of Atatürk", Şahin Bahar of "violating secrecy", Tuncer Köseoğlu of "violation of secrecy" and "influencing the judiciary", Rasim Ozan Kütahyalı of "insult", Emre Uslu of the "attempt to influence a fair trial", Bahar Kılıçgedik of "violation of secrecy", the "attempt to influence a fair trial" and "insult via a written, visual or voice message", Adnan Keskin of "insult" and "insult via a written, visual or voice message", Nevzat Çiçek of "insult" and "insult via a written, visual or voice message" and Sibel Hürtaş of the "attempt to influence a fair trial", "violation of secrecy" and "influencing the judiciary".

The Istanbul 11^th High Criminal Court started the prosecution against Zaman newspaper reporter Büşra Erdal, Ankara correspondent Metin Arslan and responsible editor Hayri Beşer on 22 September. The journalists are tried on the grounds of news articles regarding decisions for the release of detained defendants of the "Ergenekon" and "Sledgehammer" Investigations. Judges of the Istanbul 9^th High Criminal Court Yılmaz Alp and Tuncay Aslan filed a criminal complaint against the journalists by reason of their news about the decisions of release. Erdal, Arslan and Beşer are indicted under Article 6/1 of the Anti-Terror Law (TMY) on "identifying officials on anti-terror duties as targets for terrorist organizations". They are facing imprisonment of between 1.5 and 4.5 years. The current case is based on Erdal's news item entitled "The ones appointed in the HSYK crisis intervened - the Sledgehammer investigation is covered up" published on 2 April 2010 and the article "Mass releases were based on 'pirate' decree" dated 3 April 2010. The request for lack of jurisdiction submitted by Erdal's lawyer Hasan Günaydın was dismissed by the court. Erdal put forward that she had not been able to prepare her defence since she recently graduated from the faculty of law and because of the high number of cases filed against her. She requested additional time for her defence. Her request was accepted and the case was adjourned to 2 February 2011. Zaman newspaper reported that the number of investigations launched by the Ministry of Justice increased from 4,139 in November 2009 to a current total number of more than 5,000 throughout the past six months. More than 3,500 of these investigations were opened against Zaman, Taraf, Bugün, Yeni Şafak, Star and Vakit newspapers. According to Zaman, about 2,000 investigations resulted in trials.

On 23 September, it was reported that Haber Türk newspaper reporter Cemal Doğan and Hürriyet newspaper photo reporter Nurettin Kurt were acquitted in the case regarding their coverage of an alleged assassination plot against Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç. They had published the picture of a Colonel on his way to the prosecution to give his statement in the context of the assassination plot. The journalists were facing imprisonment of up to three years each at the Istanbul Special Authority 11^th High Criminal Court. They were charged with "showing public officials as targets for terrorist organizations" according to article 6 of the Anti-Terror Law. The court ruled that both journalists acted within the scope of their duties of journalism and the aim to inform.

The article entitled "What is the duty of the District Governor in Çine?" written by Yılmaz Sağlık, publication director of the Çine Uğur newspaper, is subject to a trial. The Çine District Governor, Celalettin Cantürk, filed a compensation claim against the newspaper. The daily is facing a compensation claim of TL 10,000 (€ 5,000). In the article the district governor was accused of turning a blind eye to corruption in the district. The petition of complaint was submitted to court on 27 September.

The litigation against ten defendants, among them Aysel Tuğluk, former Diyarbakır Deputy of the dissolved pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP), and Mehmet Ali Birand, journalist and lawyer of Abdullah Öcalan, was postponed to 1 February 2011. The trial was continued before the Istanbul 9^th High Criminal Court on 21 September. The court decided to wait for the execution of the arrest warrant issued upon lawyer Mahmut Şakar. Different files against Tuğluk tried at the Istanbul 9^th, 11^th and 14^th High Criminal Court were merged at the 9^th Criminal Court. The Kurdish politician had received a prison sentence of one year and six months and an occupational ban as a lawyer. However, the Court of Appeals overruled the punishment. In the current case, Tuğluk is tried together with DTP Deputy Ayla Ata Akat, and Mehmet Ali Birand, producer at the Turkish television station Kanal D. A total of ten people are involved in the trial, including Tuğluk, Ata, lawyer Mahmut Şakar, İrfan Dündar, Doğan Erbaş and Hatice Korkut. They are prosecuted over a joint letter entitled "A letter to the government" published in the Yeniden Özgür Gündem newspaper between March 2003 and February 2004. The charges are furthermore based on the news items "Peace Call from Öcalan" and "I will defend the South-East", "Let's kill all joy" published in the Özgür Politika newspaper, "A message like a threat from Imralı to the summit" published in Milliyet newspaper, "Some tragedies might come" in the Yeni Binyıl magazine, "The whistling continues" in Hürriyet newspaper and news items published in Gözcü newspaper, Akit, Türkiye, the Kanal D Main News Bulletin and the Nasname internet site. The defendants are indicted under article 220/7 of the Turkish Criminal Law on "knowing and willingly aiding and abetting an illegal organization as part of the hierarchical structure of the organization" and article 314/2 TCK on "membership in an armed organization". Article 220/7 foresees imprisonment of up to three years, article 314/2 demands prison sentence of up to ten years.

The Turkish folk music artist Pınar Sağ stands trial at the Tunceli Magistrate Criminal Court under allegations of having praised Ibrahim Kaypakkaya, founder of the Communist Party of Turkey/Marxist Leninist (TKP/ML)-TİKKO organization, at the Traditional 9^th Munzur Nature and Culture Festival in Tunceli. The trial will be continued on 27 January 2011. The singer is also tried for her saying, "Let the armed conflicts on our mountains end, peace should come and nobody should die" at the Düzgün Baba Festival in the Nazimiye district of Tunceli (eastern Anatolia) last year.

On 14 September, the Diyarbakır 5^th High Criminal Court acquitted 54 mayors, former members of the closed-down pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (BDP), who stood accused of "spreading propaganda for the PKK terror organization". They were tried under article 220/8 of the Turkish Criminal Law (TCK) on the grounds of calling the PKK the "Kurdish opposition". The mayors were facing imprisonment of up to 4.5 years. The file was transferred to the High Criminal Court after the Diyarbakır 2^nd Magistrate Court had decided for a lack of jurisdiction. The current Diyarbakır Metropolitan Mayor, Osman Baydemir, was among the defendants as well as the Mayor of Sur, Abdullah Demirbaş, the former Mayor of Tunceli, Songül Erol Abdil, the former Mayor of Hakkari, Metin Tekçe, the former Mayor of Şırnak, Ahmet Ertak, and the former Mayor of Batman, Hüseyin Kalkan.

Radikal newspaper reporters Serkan Ocak and Ertan Kılıç face imprisonment of up to 17 years each on the grounds of their news about the "Sledgehammer coup plan". The stand accused of "violating confidentiality via the media", "attempting to influence a fair trial" and "obtaining and disclosing confidential information" because of their news item entitled "Were you going to overthrow the government?" published on 25 February 2010. The prosecution started on 14 September at the Bakırköy 2^nd Criminal Court of First Instance and will be continued on 28 April 2011.

The Court of Appeals 7^th Chamber unanimously quashed the verdict against Kurdish politician Mahmut Alınak who had previously been sentenced to six months in jail. The chamber referred to the Criminal Procedural Law that includes the possibility of "postponing the pronouncement of a judgement" according to an amendment of law no. 5728. The superior court requested the Kars 1^st Criminal Court of First Instance to consider this regulation and re-evaluate the case. The Court of Appeal's decision was given on 15 June but was only reported on 16 September. Alınak said, "I received prison sentences of 1.5 years in total in the scope of three trials opened against me on the grounds of Kurdish petitions", he explained. One decision was overturned, the other two are still pending at the Court of Appeals. In total, I was handed down prison sentences summing up to 8.5 years, all files are pending at the Court of Appeals".

Vakit newspaper journalist Abdurrahman Dilipak was acquitted of charges of an "attack on the personal rights of the former President Ahmet Necdet Sezer in one of his articles. With a majority of two votes, the Court of Appeals General Criminal Board returned the file to the Bağcılar 2^nd Criminal Court of First Instance.

A trial was opened before the Istanbul 13^th High Criminal Court against Radikal newspaper reporter Ismail Saymaz on the grounds of his article entitled "Love games in Ergenekon - The Ergenekon prosecutor also took the judge's statement" published on 8 June. As reported on 8 September, the complaint for the latest trial was filed by the President of the Istanbul 13^th High Criminal Court, Köksal Şengün. The journalist had reported about the technical surveillance of Kadır Özbek, Deputy President of the Supreme Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK). The journalist is tried under allegations of "insult", "violation of the secrecy of an investigation" and the "attempt to influence a fair trial" according to articles 125, 285, and 288 respectively of the Turkish Criminal Law (TCK). He is facing prison terms of up to 70 years. The first hearing is scheduled for 28 January 2011.

The Court of Appeals 9^th Criminal Chamber approved the sentences imposed on 56 mayors, 54 of whom are members of the pro-Kurdish DTP, as reported on 8 September. The 56 mayors were sentenced to imprisonment of three months each by the Diyarbakır 5^th High Criminal Court on 15 April 2008. They had sent a joint letter to Anders Fogh Rasmussen, then Prime Minister of Denmark, requesting not to close down the satellite channel Roj TV. The mayors were convicted of "praising crime and a criminal" and sentenced to three months imprisonment each. The court punished the defendants according to article 215 of the Turkish Criminal Law (TCK) (praising crime and a criminal) and mitigated the sentences to two months and 15 days. The penalties were converted into a monetary fine of 875 YTL (approx. € 435) to be paid by each defendant based on article 52/ 2 of the TCK. Three mayors were acquitted, among them one DTP member and two members of the Social Democratic Populist Party (SHP).

Journalist Nurgün Balcıoğlu eventually avoided litigation over a TL 20,000 (€ 10,000) compensation claim filed by retired judge Zekeriya Dilsizoğlu, as reported on 7 September. Balcıoğlu had initially been sentenced to pay the compensation which was filed because of her criticizing the judge for his statement that "Of every 10,000 murder trials, 9,000 are due to women."

Ziya Çiçekçi, concessionaire and editor-in-chief of the Günlük and Açılım newspapers, received a prison sentence of eight years and seven months and a monetary fine of TL 16,000 (€8,000) on charges of "spreading propaganda for the PKK organization" and "publishing PKK announcements". The conviction is based on news items, articles and photographs published in 2009. The file is pending at the Court of Appeals. The case was initially launched on the grounds of the article entitled "Glorious Final" and the referring photograph published in the Günlük newspaper on 1 June 2009. The picture showed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan and read, "The dream of this people will come true". Another trial was opened under allegations of "propaganda for an illegal organization" stemming from the articles "One must say 'Stop' to the operations" and "PKK; PeKeKe or PeKaKa?" written by Hüseyin Ali and published on 2 June 2009. The newspaper's General Publications Director, Filiz Koçali, was acquitted related to the 2 June article. Çiçekçi on the other hand was sentenced to 1.5 years imprisonment. The file was brought before the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) together with an application regarding a one-month publishing ban. The Istanbul 11^th High Criminal Court handed down prison terms of 2.5 years to Çiçekçi  by reason of the article "Obama seen from the place I stopped" by Delil Karakoçan published on 10 April 2009. Newspaper editor Yüksel Genç was acquitted in a case opened by reason of an interview with Essa Moosa, the lawyer of Nelson Mandela, and of the article "One outcome of the elections" by Veysi Sarısözen. Retired Brigadier General Korkmaz Tağma sued Günlük newspaper on charges of "insult" on the grounds of an article about peasant Necmi Çaçan from the Düzcealan village (south-eastern city of Bitlis) who allegedly died of torture.

Melih Aşık, columnist for Milliyet newspaper, was acquitted of charges of insult against Ali Uluduru, Civil Aviation General Manager on the grounds of the column entitled "Red telephone" published on 24 July 2008. In a paragraph entitled "What has Binali done?" Aşık had criticized Transportation Minister Binali Yıldırm because he had not responded to Tarhan's complaint regarding Uluduru's demand for $ 800,000 for the flight licence for his company. On 30 July, it was reported that the daily's writer and responsible editor Hasan Çakkalkurt was acquitted regarding another issue by the Ankara 2^nd Criminal Court of First Instance.

As reported on 25 July, Fehmi Kılıç, editorial manager of the Revolutionary Movement ('Devrimci Hareket') magazine, received a prison sentence of one year and three months from the Istanbul 13^th High Criminal Court on the grounds of praising members of the Revolutionary Path ('Devrimci Yol') organization, namely Veysel Güney, Behçet Dinlerer and Ali Başpınar, in the magazine's writings. The court decided the case on 1 July but announced the reasoned decision only recently. The articles subject to the sentence were entitled "Behçet Dinlerer is the revolutionary path", "Following Ali Başpınar" and "We cherish Veysel Güney". The punishment was based on an evaluation report about the Revolutionary Path organization sent by the Ministry of the Interior on 9 February. The report of the ministry stated, "After having passed through several stages, the organization carried on under the name of 'Revolutionary Movement'. For their actions they used the signature Dev-Yol to show that they were the continuation of the 'Revolutionary Path' terror organization".

The Ministry of Justice did not issue permission for a further prosecution of Sarkis Seropyan, concessionaire of the Armenian Agos newspaper, and Arat Dink, editorial manager of the Armenian daily regarding a trial due to Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink's recognizing the events in 1915 as genocide. The 2^nd Criminal Court of First Instance of Şişli (Istanbul) had sentenced Dink and Seropyan to imprisonment of one year each on 11 October 2007 because they had been found responsible of publishing the related contents. The penalty was postponed due to a lack of criminal record.

It was reported that 553 trials are pending against Zaman, 300 against Star newspaper, Yeni Şafak newspaper is facing 95 cases and Vakit daily 200 trials. The number of investigations launched by the Ministry of Justice increased throughout the past six months from 4,139 in November 2009 to a total number of more than 5,000 by end of July 2010. More than 3,500 of these investigations were opened against Zaman, Taraf, Bugün, Yeni Şafak, Star and Vakit newspapers. About 2,000 investigations resulted in trials. It was announced that Star newspaper writer Şamil Tayyar stopped his column for the time being. The journalist received a 50-month prison sentence and another 40 cases are pending against him.

The Izmir 8^th High Criminal Court handed down ten-month prison sentences to each Cabbar Demirci, the Izmir Provincial Chairman of the Labour Party (EMEP), and Pervin Oduncu, Member of Parliament for the pro-Kurdish DTP. They were convicted on charges of "making propaganda for the PKK organization". Oduncu and DTP party executives had been taken into custody together with several party members when they were about to send a letter to the Turkish Parliament that included the term "Respected Mr. Öcalan", referring to imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan. Demirci and Oduncu attended a press release to express their protest against the custody. The court based its verdict on the slogan "The PKK is a right, the people are here" chanted during the press release. The file was brought before the Court of Appeals.

On 17 July, Birgün newspaper writer Yalçın Ergündoğan received a monetary fine of TL 10,000 (€ 5,000) in compensation from the Istanbul 7^th Civil Court of First Instance because he was found guilty of personal insult via the media of the Chairman of the Independent Party of Turkey (BDP), Haydar Baş, who is also the Sheikh of the Kadiri religious order. The court partially accepted Baş's claim for a compensation of TL 20,000 (€ 10,000). It decreed that the fine should be paid with an according interest starting from 26 April 2005 when the article on subject, entitled "Disciples revolted against Haydar Baş", was published in the left-wing daily. This was the third trial opened against him on the grounds of the very article. On 28 January, the Beyoğlu (Istanbul) 2^nd High Criminal Court had already handed down a TL 2,000 (€ 900) converted judicial fine to the writer and journalist. The penalty, converted from a 105-day prison sentence, was suspended for five years. However, Ergündoğan has to pay a total of TL 5,000(€ 2,500) for costs and expenses. Ergündoğan applied to the ECHR.

On 7 July, the Ankara 17^th Criminal Court of First Instance acquitted Fırat News Agency (ANF) and Yeni Özgür Politika ('New free politics') newspaper reporter Ali Barış Kurt and Mehmet Nuri Kökçüoğlu. Kurt and Kökçüoğlu were tried since 10 March under charges of "praising crime and a criminal", "inciting hatred and hostility amongst the public" and "alienating the public from military service via the media" because of news items published on the internet site GunesinCocuklari.com ('Children of the Sun'). Both journalists were tried under articles 318, 215 and 216 of the Turkish Criminal Law (TCK) upon a complaint filed by the General Staff Presidency. The case was opened on the grounds of the journalists' advocacy for the right to conscientious objection and furthermore because of calling the people who killed 12-year-old Uğur Kaymaz in a military operation "murderers".

Vakit newspaper applied to the Court of Appeals against the TL 616,000 (€ 308,000) compensation fine handed down by the Ankara 20^th Criminal Court of First Instance. The punishment was based on the column entitled "The country where people not even qualified as corporal become generals" published on 25 August 2003. A total of 308 generals had complained about Vakit newspaper officials Harun Aksoy and Nuri Aykon. The article was signed by Asım Yenihaber but was alleged to have been written by former RTÜK member Mehmet Doğan. The court dismissed a compensation claim filed against Doğan because of "lack of enmity". Newspaper lawyer Hacı Ali Özhan announced that including the interest that accumulated during the seven-year trial period, the fine amounted to TL 1.3 million.

The trial filed by Nur Birgen, Chair of the Institute for Forensic Medicine 3^rd Specialization Chamber, against Prof. Dr. Şebnem Korur Fincancı, board chair of the Turkish Human Rights Foundation (TİHV) and Barış Yarkadaş, chief editor of "Gerçek Gündem.com", will be continued on 21 January before the Kadıköy 2^nd High Criminal Court. Birgen is pressing charges of "insult" against Fincancı and Yarkadaş on the grounds of the contents of an interview with Fincancı. The TİHV board chair and the editor-in-chief are each facing two years and eight months in prison. Fincancı and Yarkadaş are tried under charges of "Insulting a public official via the press" under article 125/1-2-4 of the Turkish Criminal Code (TCK) on the grounds of an interview carried out on 22 July 2009. Both defendants are facing prison sentences of two years and eight months each. For the same reason, Fincancı appeared before the Kadıköy (Istanbul) 4^th High Criminal Court together with taraf.com news site editor Adnan Demir on 13 October.

Journalist Mehdi Tanrıkulu stands trial on the grounds of "spreading propaganda for an illegal organization" based on an article published in the Kurdish Azadiya Welat newspaper on 23 January 2010. In his article, Tanrıkulu had described imprisoned leader of the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), Adullah Öcalan, as the "Leader of the Kurdish People". Moreover, he referred to the PKK as the "Kurdish Freedom Movement". Tanrıkulu is the owner of Tevn Publishing and a former executive of the Kurdish Azadiya Welat newspaper. He is tried before the Diyarbakır 4^th High Criminal Court. The journalist requested to present his defence in Kurdish as his mother tongue but the Prosecution rejected his request. This situation was included into the investigation records as having made "use of the right to remain silent". Tanrıkulu was arrested on 4 April 2010 and detained for one month on the grounds of "insisting on presenting his defence in Kurdish". The trial was postponed to 28 October.

Singer Cevdet Bağca was sentenced to imprisonment of ten months for saying "Do not forget Kazım Koyuncu, Ahmet Kaya, Ozan Serhat and Delila. Do not forget Uğur Kaymaz" in a concert performed in the south-eastern city of Siirt. Bağca had delivered a brief speech at a concert in Siirt on 29 September 2009. The opinions he voiced were recorded by the police as "sympathizing for an illegal organization and spreading propaganda about a member of the organization". The official police report stated that Bağca praised Kazım Koyuncu and Ahmet Kaya, two persons who allegedly sympathized with the PKK/KONGRA-GEL organization (the militant Kurdistan Workers Party) and spread propaganda for the terror organization. It was furthermore claimed in the report that he praised Ozan Serhat and Delila, supposed PKK/KONGRA-GEL members who were killed in operations in rural areas.

On 16 June, the Ankara 10^th Criminal Court of First Instance handed down a one year and six months prison sentence to defendant Volkan Sevinç and imprisonment of six months each to defendants Gökçe Otlu Sevimli, Halil Savda and Zarife Ferda Çakmak. They were among the 19 defendants on trial because of a press release made in order to support conscientious objector Enver Aydemir. The press release was delivered on Ankara's popular Yüksel Avenue on 6 January. The 19 defendants were charged with "violating the Law on Meetings and Demonstrations", "praising crime and a criminal", "alienating the public from military service" and "violation of Law No. 6136" on Firearms and Knives. The court postponed the pronouncement of judgement for Sevimli, Savda and Çakmak.

The Istanbul 13^th High Criminal Court decided for the acquittal of Taraf newspaper writer Roni Margulies and editorial manager Adnan Demir who were tried on the grounds of a writing saying, "Did the Turkish state accept one of the dozens of ceasefires declared by the PKK? Did they put an end to the military operations? They did not. Why do they expect the PKK to stop their activities under these circumstances?" The case was opened on 16 December 2009 on the grounds of the column entitled "Who is whose enemy?" under allegations of "spreading propaganda for a terrorist organization". Demir stated in the hearing that they rejected the allegations and said that Margulies "explained the meaning of the PKK for the Kurdish people based on sociological reasons".

On 10 June, the Istanbul 10^th High Criminal Court convicted author Mehmet Güler of "making propaganda for the PKK organization" on the grounds of "separatist" protagonists in his novel entitled "More difficult decisions than death" ('Ölümden Zor Kararlar'). The publisher of the novel, Ragıp Zarakolu, was acquitted since the court decreed for a lack of "criminal liability". Author Güler on the other hand was sentenced to imprisonment of one year and three months according to article 7/2 of the Anti-Terror Law. International PEN and the International Publishers Association (IPA) condemned the decision.

On 9 June, Barış Yarkadaş, executive of the GerçekGündem.com website, was acquitted by the Kadıköy (Istanbul) 7^th Criminal Court of First Instance on 9 June. Yarkadaş had been facing imprisonment for publishing a reader comment sent under the pseudonym "Türkeli27" which allegedly criticized President Abdullah Gül. The case was filed on the grounds of a reader comment regarding a statement of the Armenian President Serj Sarkisyan who had said, "I am not going to Turkey no matter if the borders are open or closed". Yarkadaş was tried because he published the reader comment saying "Sarkisyan challenged Turkey because of the attitude of President Abdullah Gül". The comment had been attached to a news item dated 24 April 2009. Yarkadaş stood accused of "insult of the President" and faced imprisonment of five years and four months according to article 299 of the Turkish Criminal Code.

On 9 June, the Izmir 10^th High Criminal Court sentenced 61-year old 'Peace Mother' Sultan Acıbuca to imprisonment of 6 years and 3 months by reason of her thoughts voiced on the World Labour Women's Day on 8 March 2008 and several other speeches delivered on different occasions. Charges under Article 314/2 TCK were pressed against Acıbuca for saying: "They send children from poor Turkish and Kurdish families to the military. One of our sons is on the mountain [joint the PKK], one of our sons is in the army. We do not want them to kill each other. They burned down our houses, they expelled us from our homes. Erdoğan's child is swimming in money. Our daughters get married to Turks. Turkish daughters get married to our sons. We are living side by side. We do not want to fight any more". Acıbucu's condemning of the murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink was evaluated as a criminal offence as well as her attendance of a meeting on the occasion of the World Peace Day on 1 September, her call for peace at the International Labour Women's Day and attending three press releases as a spectator.

Sabah newspaper writer Nazlı Ilıcak was sentenced to the payment of TL 5,000 (€ 2,500) in compensation because she had described Judge Osman Kaçmaz as "officious". In the hearing on 8 June, the 2^nd Criminal Court of Sincan (west of Ankara) found Ilıcak and Sabah daily owner Ahmet Çalık guilty of "attacking personal rights" in the article from 25 May 2009 entitled "The President's Immunity". Judge Kaçmaz intended to sue President Abdullah Gül in the context of an investigation into "lost millions", a corruption case in the 1990s. He was criticized after he overruled the decision of the Ankara Public Prosecution to dismiss procedures. Kaçmaz had initially demanded a compensation of TL 30,000 (€ 15,000) including legal interest. The Istanbul 2^nd Criminal Court of First Instance had previously sentenced Ilıcak to imprisonment of eleven months and 20 days charged with insulting Kaçmaz via the media predicated on the same article. The sentence was postponed. The decision was criticized by Aydın Doğan from the Doğan Media Group, Ertuğrul Özkök from Hürriyet newspaper, the Media Association and the Turkish Journalists Association.

On 7 June, The Izmir 6^th Magistrate Criminal Court continued the trial filed by the Izmir Provincial General Assembly President Serdar Değirmenci and 48 deputies against Taraf newspaper journalist Rasim Ozan Kütahyalı and Milliyet newspaper journalist Hasan Cemal. Subject of the case is a compensation claim of TL 1 (€ 0.50) each. Cemal had criticized an attack against a convoy of the Democratic Society Party (dissolved by the Constitutional Court in December 2009) in a writing entitled "Children in guerrilla outfits"; Kütahyalı's article was entitled "Izmir, capital of fascism". The trial will be continued in January 2011.

On 4 June, The Istanbul 11^th High Criminal Court Prosecutor handed down a prison sentence of one year and three months to journalist İrfan Aktan on the grounds of the article entitled "Weather Conditions in the Region and in Qandil / No Solution without Fighting" published in the Express magazine. Editorial manager Merve Erol received a monetary fine of TL 16,000 (€ 8,000) for the writing that was published in the 99^th issue of the fortnightly magazine on 15 October 2009. Both journalists were convicted of "spreading propaganda for a terrorist organization". The article shown as the reason of crime contained statements of a PKK/Kongra-Gel member and a one sentence quotation from the Özgür Halk ('Free People') magazine. The lawyers filed an appeal against the decision. The decision was condemned by Reporters without Borders, the International Press Organization, the Committee to Protect Journalists, the G9 Journalists Platform, the Journalists Union of Turkey, the International Press Institute, the Ankara University Faculty of Communication, the Southeast Journalists Association, the Kurdish Writers Association and the Diyarbakir Central Representation of PEN. More than 50 journalists criticized the decision in their columns. The Media Legal Defence Initiative offered legal support to Aktan.

The Istanbul 11^th High Criminal Court acquitted Milliyet newspaper reporter Nedim Şener in the case related to his book entitled "The Dink murder and the intelligence lies" on 4 June. Şener stood accused of "violation of secrecy" and "identifying officials on anti-terrorist duties as targets". In the previous hearing on 28 April, the prosecutor had demanded a three-year prison sentence for Şener under charges of "identifying people as targets for terror organizations". He was sued by Ramazan Akyürek, then Chief of Police in Trabzon (Black Sea coast), Ali Fuat Yılmazer, Deputy Chief of the Istanbul Police, intelligence police officer Muhittin Zenit and Intelligence Branch Manager of the Trabzon Police Directorate Faruk Sarı. The complaint was filed with Şener because he "obtained and published confidential information" based on the transcript of a phone call between police informant Zenit and Erhan Tuncel half an hour after the murder of Hrant Dink. However, in the hearing on 4 June, the court announced that the names of the complainants and some of their code names were included in the Hrant Dink murder trial file at the Istanbul 14^th High Criminal Court and thus confidentiality had been lifted anyways.

On 3 June, the Magistrate Criminal Court of Midyat in the south-eastern province of Mardin handed down a six-month prison sentence each to three former members of the Democratic Society Party (DTP), namely Midyat Mayor Candidate Yüksel Aslan Acer, Midyat Provincial Chair Abdulaziz Bilgin and party member Süleyman Tekin. The party members of the pro-Kurdish DTP, which was closed by the Constitutional Court in December last year, were sentenced for speaking Kurdish in a meeting during the run-up for the elections. The case was launched with the three politicians after a meeting on 29 March 2009 on the grounds of "committing a criminal offence by violating the laws related to oral and written election propaganda to be made in Turkish only". The court decreed for a violation of law no. 298 on Basic Decrees of Elections and Electorate Registers. The six-month sentences were postponed.

In respect of the decision taken by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in 2007, the Bakırköy (Istanbul) 15^th Criminal Court of First Instance decided for the acquittal of Meral Tamer, writer for the nationwide Milliyet newspaper, on 18 May. Meral had been sued by former President Süleyman Demirel and convicted on the grounds of her articles entitled "Who is responsible for the rubble?" and "The 7.4 earthquake did not shake Demirel". The court decided that Tamers articles remained within the borders of press freedom and freedom of thought. Charges of "insult" were pressed against Tamer after the articles had been published on 20 and 24 August 1999 subsequent to the devastating earthquake in the north-eastern Marmara region on 17 August 1999. The case was opened on 16 November 1999. Eleven months later, Tamer was handed down a prison sentence of 16 months. The court decided to suspend the penalty and drop it in case Tamer would not commit any further crime within the coming five years. On 12 November 2007, the ECHR announced its decision on the case and decreed that Tamer's conviction had been unlawful. The international court sentenced Turkey to a monetary fine of € 6,000 in compensation. Tamer rejected the reconciliation request worth € 10,000 made by the state. She applied for a new trial in Turkey related to the positive decision of the ECHR. The file was re-tried at the Bakırköy 15^th Criminal Court of First Instance, which decided for Tamer's acquittal.

On the same day, the Bakırköy (Istanbul) Criminal Court of First Instance dropped the case against caricaturist İbrahim Özbadak from the Yeni Asya newspaper by prescription. A compensation claim against the caricaturist was launched on the grounds of a caricature published on 21 May 2009. The illustration refers to President Judge Osman Kaçmaz of the Sincan (central Anatolia) 1^st High Criminal Court who intended to prosecute President Abdullah Gül regarding the investigation into "Lost Billions".

Berrin Tursun, mother of Baran Tursun who was killed with a police bullet in Izmir in 2007 because of ignoring a stop warning, was found guilty of "threat" and "insult" on the grounds of her reaction at court against the release of police officer Oral Emre Atar. The Karşıyaka 5^th Criminal Court of First Instance (Izmir) handed down a prison sentence of five months and 20 days to Berrin Tursun on 17 May. The court dropped charges related to article 301 of the Turkish Criminal Code (ban of "insults" to the Turkish nation) against un-detained defendants Mehmet Tursun, father of the victim, his mother Berrin Tursun and his sister Şelale Tursun since the Ministry of Justice refused to issue the necessary permission. However, the court sentenced Berrin Tursun to imprisonment of 3 months and 22 days on the grounds of threatening Atar and to another month and 28 days behind bars based on alleged insult of the police officer. The pronouncement of the judgement was postponed due to a "lack of criminal record".

The Istanbul 12^th High Criminal Court acquitted Aysel Tuğluk, former deputy of the banned pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP), and closed another case against her by prescription on 12 May. Tuğluk stood accused of "spreading propaganda for the PKK", the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party, and of "praising crime and a criminal". The charges were based on the contents of the two articles entitled "Apo talks" published on 28 May 2004 and "Apo does not like the new name of the PKK" published on 27 May 2002. 'Apo' refers to imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan. Tuğluk was acquitted of the charges related to the article "Apo talks" because the court was not convinced that Tuğluk "committed the crime imputed on her". The same court also tried the second case in a subsequent session. A time period of 7.5 years passed since the article subject of the trial was published on 27 May 2002, thus the case was dropped by prescription. Tuğluk was facing imprisonment for the article "Apo does not like the new name of the PKK" published in 2002 based on article 7/2 (assistance or propaganda for an illegal organization) of the Anti-Terror Law (TMY) and article 215 (defamation) of the Turkish Criminal Code (TCK).

On 11 May, the Beyoğlu (Istanbul) 4^th Magistrate Law Court sentenced Sesonline.net webpage writer Yalçın Ergündoğan to a monetary fine of TL 500 (€ 250) in compensation on the grounds of his article entitled "Disciples revolted against Haydar Baş". The journalist was tried upon a complaint filed by the Chairman of the Independent Party of Turkey (BDP), Haydar Baş, who is also the Sheikh of the Kadiri religious order. Including cost and expenses, he will have to pay a total of TL 3,500 (€ 1,750). Baş's lawyers had initiated executive procedures against Ergündoğan. The Beyoğlu (Istanbul) 2^nd High Criminal Court had already handed down a 2,000 Turkish Lira (TL) (€ 900) converted judicial fine to the writer and journalist. The penalty, converted from a 105-day prison sentence, was suspended for five years.

On the same day, the 2^nd High Criminal Court of Erzurum sentenced politician Mahmut Alınak to imprisonment of one year under charges of "spreading propaganda for the PKK terrorist organization" because he invited the Kurdish people to civil disobedience in a program on the Kurdish ROJ TV, broadcasting from Belgium. The sentence was based on "talks broadcasted by the television channel ROJ TV that contained propaganda for a terror organization. The broadcast of ROJ TV directed the viewers towards the armed PKK terror organization". On 5 October 2008, Alınak had said on ROJ TV, "If the General Staff had put forward the idea of stopping their military operations, there would certainly not have been any incident in Bezele and not that many people would have died. [...]. The PKK had announced a ceasefire, no steps at all were taken within six years. [...] In events of our political party we will sing the (Kurdish) 'ey rakip' (oh my enemy) march and will sing also sing the international anthem in Kurdish. This will also be a message for the AKP [ruling Justice and Development Party]. We should definitely start our social march and we have to turn every place we visit into a place of uprising. Current history should be defined by civil disobedience and this sort of strain that applies social pressure".

After a seven year-trial, Vakit newspaper was sentenced to a monetary fine of TL 616,000 (€ 308,000) in compensation on the grounds of the article "The country where people not even qualified as corporal become generals" by the Ankara 20^th High Criminal Court on 6 May. Newspaper officials Harun Aksoy and Nuri Aykon have to pay the fine to 308 generals. The court dismissed the compensation claim filed by former RTÜK member Mehmet Doğan due to "lack of enmity". The article on subject was published on 25 August 2003 and signed by Asım Yenihaber. According to an expert, it could not be ascertained that Doğan had written the article. The compensation claim was filed by 312 generals including four Force Commanders seven years ago. Newspaper lawyer Haci Ali Özhan said that the compensation decreed by judge Adem Albayrak amounts to a total of TL 1.3 million (€ 650,000) including interest. He announced to appeal.

On 4 June, the Eskişehir 4^th Magistrate Criminal Court handed down an eleven months prison sentence to university student Erdem Büyük (22) because he published a caricature of Yılmaz Büyükerşen, Mayor of Büyükşehir, on his facebook site. The punishment was based on article 125 of the TCK on "attacking personal rights". The sentence was suspended on a five-year probation period because Büyük is still a student and he has no criminal record. The penalty will be enforced if he commits the same kind of crime again within this period. Büyük stated that he did not find the caricature bad or offensive. "I liked the caricature. I copied a caricature I liked and posted it on my site to share it with my friends. I did not have bad intentions", he said. Vahap Ata, lawyer of defendant Büyük, reminded the fact that Mayor Büyükerşen was a former journalist and caricaturist and criticized his attitude to file a case because a caricature about him. Büyük had posted a caricature related to Democratic Left Party (DSP) mayor Prof. Büyükerşen after the elections on 29 March 2009. He was arrested after the police had identified him via the IP number of his computer. Büyük said he was going to apply to the European Court of Human Rights.

On 4 May, Turkish actress Müjde Ar received an eleven months and 20 days prison sentence from the 3^rd Magistrate Criminal Court of Eskişehir (central Anatolia) upon charges of "insult" pressed by Eskişehir National Education Director İbrahim Ceylan. Ceylan indicated in a statement on 17 May 2009 that he was working on replacing foreign fictional characters depicted on students' bags and schooling equipment with figures of national Turkish heroes such as Nasreddin Hoca and Keloğlan instead. Ceylan aimed to "protect the children from the invasion of foreign culture". He suggested that students should use schooling equipment illustrated with Keloğlan instead of Barbie and Yunus Emre instead of Spiderman. Ar had criticized this project on NTV. Referring to Ceylan she had said, "This is paedophilia. Which hinterland do these managers come from?" The court suspended the sentences for five years.

On 30 April, the Izmir 6^th Criminal Court of First Instance rejected the application of the Izmir Governorship regarding the closure the Black Pink Triangle LGBT Association. The court did not accept the reason for the application that stated that the association was "opposing the general moral and the Turkish family structure". Judge Mürsel Ermiş declared that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual and transvestite individuals had the right to establish an association just as any other individual.

The Diyarbakır 5^th High Criminal Court sentenced Selim Sadak, mayor of the city of Siirt in south-eastern Turkey, to imprisonment of one year under charges of "spreading propaganda for the PKK" on 26 April. Reason for the mayor's conviction was a statement made to a journalist where Sadak used the term "Kurdistan". The court reasoned the decision by claiming that mayor Sadak "made a speech analogue to statements of a 'common homeland Kurdistan' based on notes of an interview with Abdullah Öcalan and by using arguments of an illegal organization towards the organization's aims". On 13 April, the Diyarbakır 4^th High Criminal Court handed down a prison sentence of 10 months to Sadak under the same charges on the grounds of a photograph in the 2010 calendar.

On 17 April, Şamil Tayyar, Ankara correspondent of the Star newspaper, was handed down a 15-month prison sentence by the Bakırköy 2^nd Criminal Court of First Instance. On 22 June 2009, he had reported about Colonel Dursun Çiçek, who supposedly signed the "Plan against Reactionary Forces", to have signed his related statement at the prosecutor with a different signature. On 22 June 2009, Tayyar had made the headlines of Star newspaper with his article "20 signatures are the same, just one is different". The Forensic Medicine Institute, the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK), the Criminal Offices of the Police and the Gendarmerie had confirmed that the signature on the document belonged to Dursun Çiçek. The Bakırköy 2^nd Criminal Court of First Instance sentenced Tayyar to 15 months imprisonment under charges of "violating the secrecy of an investigation" and the "attempt to influence a fair trial" on the grounds of his article. The court postponed the pronouncement of judgement and decreed for a five-year probation period. The latest penalty handed down to Tayyar could not be executed because the case was opened before the previously opened cases were decided. Tayyar had previously received two prison sentences of 15 and 20 months, respectively.

On 15 April, the Ankara 11^th High Criminal Court decided to bring pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) Istanbul MP Sebahat Tuncel to court by compulsion in order to take her statement regarding the prosecution under allegations of "praising a crime and a criminal". 23 members of the Women's Assembly of the banned Democratic Society Party (DTP) are tried together with MP Tunel. President Judge Kadir Kayan decided to issue another warrant to bring Tuncel to court by compulsion and to file a criminal complaint with the officials responsible for the first warrant not reaching Tuncel.

On 13 April, the 4^th High Criminal Court in Diyarbakır in south-eastern Turkey handed down a prison sentence of one year to Siirt Mayor Selim Sadak in the first and only session of the case. Reasons for the conviction are pictures of the Newroz festival included in the 2010 calendar issued by the Siirt Municipality. The pictures in the calendar allegedly showed the "flag of the PKK", the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party. Sadak's punishment was mitigated to imprisonment of 10 months due to "good conduct".

Former Head of the Intelligence Department Sabri Uzun gave his statement in the 15 April hearing of the case against journalist Nedim Şener on 14 April. Facing prison sentence of up to 32.5 years in total, Şener stands trial in three different cases launched on the grounds of his book "The Dink Murder and the Intelligence Lies". In the hearing held at the 2^nd Criminal Court of First Instance, Uzun stated that he had no information about the planned killing of Hrant Dink, then editor-in-chief of the Armenian Agos newspaper. Without mentioning his name directly, Uzun claimed that C Branch Manager Ali Fuat Yılmazer kept the report from him intentionally. Şener faces imprisonment of up to 28 under charges of "identifying officials on anti-terrorist duties as targets". The criminal complaint against the journalist was filed by Ramazan Akyürek, then Chief of Police in Trabzon (Black Sea coast), Ali Fuat Yılmazer, C Branch Manager of the Police Intelligence, intelligence police officer Muhittin Zenit and Intelligence Branch Manager of the Trabzon Police Directorate Faruk Sarı. The hearing was observed by Orhan Dink, brother of slain journalist Hrant Dink and member of the Social Memory Platform, Nükhet İpekçi, daughter of killed journalist Abdi İpekçi and Canan Kaftanoğlu, daughter in law of Ümit Kaftancıoğlu.

On 14 April, the Diyarbakır 4^th High Criminal Court continued the trial against Democratic Society Congress (DTK) co-chair Hatip Dicle on the grounds of speeches delivered on different dates. The prosecutor demanded a three count penalty according to article 7/2 TMY under charges of "spreading propaganda for the PKK organization" and "committing a crime on behalf of an illegal organization without being a member of the organization" and another sentence under articles 314/2 and 314/3. Dicle is facing imprisonment of 30 years in total. The court is also prosecuting Ahmet Ertak, Mayor of Şırnak, under charges of "spreading organizational propaganda".

The Simav Criminal Court of First Instance in the province of Kütayha (western Turkey) handed down a prison sentence of eleven months and 20 days to journalist Mustafa Arıgümüş on 12 April. The chief editor and columnist of the Simav'ın Sesi newspaper was charged with insulting Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in an anecdote the journalist had published. Journalist Melih Kaşkar, editor-in-chief of the Milas Önder local daily (south-west Turkey), was sentenced for the same reason. The 2^nd Criminal Court of First Instance in Adana (south-eastern Turkey) convicted Sevda Turaçlar from the Ekspres newspaper of the same offence in a single session of the trial. Her sentence was suspended.

On 10 April, Sakine Yalçın, former ediotor-in-chief of the Alınteri newspaper, was notified by the Court of Appeals 9^th Chamber's approval of the decision regarding a TL 620 (€ 310) monetary fine. Yalçın had initially been sentenced by a local court on the grounds of insulting the Turkish Parliament. The decision was approved unanimously on 1 February 2010. The journalist received an immediate application for payment. The case was opened on 10 February 2004. In her article entitled "The class against the class" published on 14 September 2003, Yalçın wrote about approving publications by the "capital press" related to the parliamentary permission to send military troops to Iraq. In the following article, the journalist criticized the TBMM's, the General Staff's and the government's approach in favour of the permit. The 2^nd Criminal Court of First Instance had sentenced Yalçin to imprisonment of six months according article 159 of the former Criminal Law ("insults" to the Turkish state) on 1 February 2007. The sentence was converted to monetary fine of TL 620. The court had acquitted the journalist of charges of publicly insulting and ridiculing the state's military forces and the Republic.

On 8 April, the 5^th High Criminal Court in Diyarbakır, a Kurdish majority-city in south-east Turkey, handed down a three-year prison sentence to Leyla Zana, former MP of the closed pro-Kurdish Democracy Party (DEP). Zana was charged with "propaganda for an illegal organization" because she had called Abdullah Öcalan, imprisoned leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), the "leader of the Kurdish People". The court based the charges on speeches made by Zana during the Democratic Society Congress on 20-22 September 2008 and in the course of a sit-down strike carried out on 1-3 November 2008 as a protest action against the supposedly worsening detention conditions for Öcalan. Lawyer Fethi Gümüş said, "This is the maximum sentence that could be given and the court did not apply any kind of mitigation. We will file an appeal, of course". Leyla Zana had been on trial since 9 January 2009. The prosecution had previously demanded prison sentence of one year and six months for each of her speeches.

"We say that we are not experiencing a struggle against terrorism but in fact an undeclared war, let it be just or not, between the state powers and rebellious insurgents". Statements like this were shown as reasons to sentence Günlük newspaper journalist Veysi Sarısözen to imprisonment of 15 months under charges of "spreading propaganda for the PKK" on 1 April. The Istanbul 10^th High Criminal Court based its decision on an article entitled "Terror or war?" published on 14 June 2007. Journalist Sarısözen was convicted under article 7/2 of the Anti-Terror Act (TMY). The court acquitted former Günlük newspaper concessionaire Veysi Ürper. It was decided to extend the arrest warrant previously issued on former editorial manager Özlem Aktan since his statement could not be taken yet. The court will take a decision after his statement will have been heard. Sarısözen and current newspaper concessionaire Ziya Çiçek are facing imprisonment of another 7.5 years each for the article "It is not us but the people spreading organizational propaganda" published on 6 February 2009. Additionally, Sarısözen stands trial on the grounds of his article entitled "One of the results of the election" published on 10 April 2009. In this writing, the journalist demanded to release PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan, who has been imprisoned on Imralı Island since 1999.

Halil Savda, owner and director of the www.SavasKarsitlari.org ('antimilitarist.org) website, is tried at the Beyoğlu (Istanbul) 3^rd Magistrate Criminal Court because he quoted an article about Ahmet Ateşli entitled "Ağar: Allegations and beyond". The charges are based on sentences such as "The senior staff of the Istanbul Police Directorate has close relations to Istanbul's underworld. The most important coordinators of these relations are the retired chief of the homicide office, Ahmet Ateşli, and Mehmet Ağar". The trial was adjourned to 24 March 2011.

Fatih Taş, owner of Aram Publishing, is facing imprisonment of up to five years on the grounds of the book "Footpath (Memories of a Guerrilla - 4). He is tried under charges of "spreading PKK propaganda" according to article 7/2 of the TMY.

The case against Türkiye'de Cuma (Friday in Turkey) magazine journalist Abdurrahman Dilipak and 6 newspaper correspondents was closed by prescription. Defendants Mustafa Karahasanoğlu, general publishing coordinator, responsible manager Cengiz Almış and newspaper staff Mustafa Hacımustafaoğulları, Hüseyin Arı, Yalçın Turgut and Abdurrahman Şeref Kazan were facing between six months and three years imprisonment each on the grounds of the articles "If the pasha does not listen to reason", "Undisciplined Pashas" and "The essential condition for the military is not secularism, it is patriotism", published between 29 August and 3 September 2003.

A total of 181 trials have been opened against Vakit newspaper because of news related to the "Ergenekon" trial and its defendants. Ahmet Can Karahasanoğlu, responsible editor of the Vakit daily, received a 2 years and six months prison sentence. 120 cases have been opened against employees of the newspaper under charges of "violating the secrecy of an investigation", 17 because of the alleged "attempt to influence a fair trial", 30 trials under charges of "insult of a public official", 8 cases because of alleged insult of institutions, 2 cases for "publishing personal data" and 4 trials under charges of "insult". The newspaper announced that two cases were opened against Vakit under charges of "violating the secrecy of an investigation" on the grounds of articles concerned with the alleged "coup diaries" of former Cumhuriyet newspaper Ankara correspondent Mustafa Albay. The articles subject to the trials were entitled "This is also from Balbay's Diaries", "Number One gave up" and "Başbuğ: Balbay broke the agreement, we are sorry". The Bakırköy (Istanbul) 2^nd Criminal Court of First Instance sentenced Karahasanoğlu to imprisonment of 2.5 years under charges of "violating the secrecy of an investigation" based on news about the murder of Üzeyir Garih which is part of the "Ergenekon" indictment and about the Dağlıca raid. The same court handed down a one year and three months prison sentence to Karahasanoğlu under the same charges because he reported about military statements related to the "Dağlıca" raid carried out on 21 October 2007.

On 16 March, the Adana 7^th High Criminal Court decided for the acquittal of Hasan Hüseyin Reyhan, Head of the Assistance and Solidarity Association for Families of Detainees and Convicts in Adana (THAY-DER). He was charged with "praising crime and a criminal". It was learned in the beginning of April that charges against Reyhan had been dropped due to a "lack of elements of crime". He was facing a prison sentence because he had referred to imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan as "respectable". Reyhan had delivered a speech in the course of a protest action on 4 May 2009. The demonstration was against the arrest of DTP members.

On 31 March, the Istanbul 3^rd Criminal Court of First Instance dismissed a TL 70,000 (€ 35,000) compensation claim withGünlük Evrensel ('Daily Universal') newspaper that had been filed for the newspaper's coverage of environmental damage caused by the Ovacık Mine in western Turkey. In its issue from 8 February 2009, the daily had reported about environmental damage caused due to heavy rainfalls by the Ovacık Gold Mine run by the Koza Gold Company in Bergama close to the Aegean Coast. Environmental activists had also formed an initiative.

The Court of First Instance of Hakkari in the south-east of Turkey tries four politicians from the closed pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) on the grounds of having addressed their electorate in Kurdish in the run-up to the local elections on 29 March 2009. The second hearing of the case against Hakkari Mayor Fadıl Bedirhanoğlu, former mayor Kazım Kurt, former DTP Provincial Chair Fahri Kurtand former DTP executive Rahmi Temel was held on 31 March. The judge postponed the trial to 5 May to take the statement of Kazım Kurt.

On 30 March, the Diyarbakır 4^th High Criminal Court handed down a three-year prison sentence to detained Vedat Kurşun, former editorial manager of the Azadiya Welat newspaper publishing in Kurdish, on the grounds of "spreading propaganda for the PKK". The court based its decision on articles published in the newspaper's issues of 11 and 12 August 2007. Reasons for Kurşun's conviction were several items published in the issue of 11 August 2007. Those were the announcement of the death of Mazhar İlbasan, Demirci Taştekin and Vural Soydemir, members of the People's Defence Forces (HPG), an armed wing of the PKK, as the result of clashes in Tunceli; a poem for PKK members written by Nesih Özcan and a notice saying "We are educated in front of fighters for freedom. The Patriotic 'Norşin' in Mersin". Further reasons were given based on the issue of the following day, since it included a long article about imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan with his photograph.

On 27 March, the Şişli (Istanbul) Criminal Court of First Instance imposed a TL 700 (€ 350) monetary fine on Cumhuriyet newspaper journalist Cüneyt Arcayürek. He was found guilty of insult of religious leader Fethullah Gülen. Arcayürek was presented by his lawyers Bülent Utku and Fikret İlkiz. The sentence was based on the article entitled "The Fethullah Gülen Germ" published on 20 October 2007. The prosecutor claimed that the words used by the journalist were humiliating and demanded his punishment accordingly. The president judge sentenced Arcayürek to a monetary fine of TL 700 under charges of article 125/1-2 (Defamation) of the TCK. The judge did not postpone the sentence due to the nature of the punishment.

On 25 March, the 4^th High Criminal Court of Diyarbakır in the predominantly south-eastern region of Turkey handed down a prison sentence of one year and eight months to the Kurdish artist Rojda Şenses. Reason for the conviction is the song entitled "Heval Kamuran" ('Comrade Kamuran') Rojda performed at a festival in Diyarbakır in 2009. She was charged with "spreading propaganda for an illegal organization". Rojda filed an appeal. Thus, the case was transferred to the Court of Appeals.

On 23 March, the Ankara 25^th Criminal Court of First Instance dismissed a TL 25,000 (€ 12,500) compensation claim filed against bianet by police officer Muhittin Zenit. Zenit had made the headlines with a telephone conversation between him and Erhan Tuncel, a defendant in the trial on the murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink. Zenit was at the Trabzon Police Intelligence when journalist Dink was assassinated on 19 January 2007. Half an hour after the murder, Zenit allegedly said in a telephone conversation with Tuncel, "So, they shot him directly in the head...That's the only difference. He wasn't going to run away, but this one did." In case Zenit should appeal to the decision, the file will be forwarded to the Court of Appeals Law Office. The court had previously requested the Dink Murder file from the Istanbul 14^th High Criminal Court. However, the court decided to refrain from waiting for a related response prior to the pronouncement of the judgement. Zenit had filed his complaint on the grounds of an article entitled "It was clear how he was going to be shot", published on bianet on 30 September 2007, and another one entitled "New Evidence in Dink Murder: We'll Talk to President Muhsin about Yasin", published on 28 April 2008. Zenit's compensation claim of TL 90,000 (€ 42,850) filed with the Turkish news channel NTV was dismissed by the Court of Appeals of the 4^thCircuit.

On 23 March, the Istanbul 9^th High Criminal Court announced an additional decision related to the case on the book "The Kırbaşı Raid" by Aram Publishing executive Fatih Taş. Taş had been sentenced to imprisonment of five months on 18 June 2008 under charges of "making separatist propaganda" and the sentence had been executed. The court decided to cancel Taş's conviction based on article 6/4 and 7/2 of the Anti-Terror Law and decreed for his acquittal.

Columnist of the Gaziantep Hakmiyet newspaper, Murat Güneş, is tried at the Ganziantep 2^nd Criminal Court of First Instance because of a column about Ömer Küsbeoğlu, president of the Gaziantep Association of Shopkeepers and Craftsmen Chambers (GESOB). Güneş wrote in his column that Küsbeoğlu, in his function as a member of the AKP Provincial Directorate, made almost 1,000 shopkeepers to chum up with the government. The trial against Güreş  will start on 11 May. Newspaper founder Abdullah Sabri Kocaman is facing a compensation claim of TL 15,000 (€ 7,500) for the same article.

The Ankara Public Chief Prosecutor's Office launched a trial against former co-chairAhmet Türk of the dissolved pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) and former DTP MP Aysel Tuğluk. Both politicians stand accused for "spreading propaganda for an illegal organization" on the grounds of their efforts to bring back to Turkey eight soldiers who were held hostage by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). As reported on 23 March, the indictment says that Türk and Tuğluk went to Iraq together with Siirt MP Osman Özçelik from the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) and Van MP Fatma Kurtulan. There, eight military soldiers who had been taken hostage by the PKK in the Dağlıca raid in October 2007 were handed over to them and brought back to Turkey. The indictment states that "the soldiers were handed over in Iraq at a place with members of the terror organization and a picture of imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan. At the same time, images containing organizational propaganda could be seen". Both politicians will are tried under article 7/2 of the Anti-Terror Law at the Ankara 12^th High Criminal Court. On 21 October 2007, members of the PKK terror organization had carried out a crackdown on a police station in Dağlıca in the south-eastern province of Hakkari. 13 soldiers died, eight soldiers were taken hostage by the PKK.

The trial against Ersen Korkmaz, owner of the Democratic İskenderun newspaper, based on a news item entitled "The Kurdish leaders were taken and delivered to the Fascists" about a panel discussion organized by the Turkish Communist Party (TKP)was dropped by prescription. The Iskenderun 2^nd Criminal Court of First Instance closed the case after it had been pending since 2002. At the same time, TKP executive Necmettin Salaz avoided punishment. Both defendants were facing imprisonment of up to three years under article 159 of the former Turkish Criminal Court on the grounds of the article published on 1 September 2002. They stood accused of "insulting and ridiculing the military and the police forces".

In the middle of May, the Adana 8^th High Criminal Court imposed a one year eight months prison sentence to DİHA reporter Murat Kolca. He was charged with "making propaganda for the PKK organization" while he was covering an incident in the Tarsus district of Mersin. The Adana 7^th High Criminal Court sentenced Azadiya Welat newspaper journalist Seyithan Akyüzy, correspondent for Adana, to imprisonment of six years and three months under charges of "assisting the PKK".

Haldun Açıksözlü, actor and director of the theatre play "Laz Marks" is sued under allegations of "insulting the prime minister" in the play after it was performed in Rize (eastern Black Sea coast). He was summoned to the Beyoğlu (Istanbul) 2^nd Magistrate Criminal Court to give his statement on 12 March. He faces prison sentence of up to two years and eight months at the Rize Magistrate Criminal Court on the grounds of an anecdote. The show has been on stage for one year in cooperation with the Leman Culture and 'Canşenlik' Actors. The director's lawyers Hüseyin Güçlü and Hakan Bintepe said, "The anecdote subject of the trial is part of an art work. Plucking one part out of the whole with a pair of tweezers cannot confirm whether an art work is insulting or not".

On 11 March, the Magistrate Criminal Court in Tunceli in eastern Turkey decided that the term "Murderer Erdoğan", used in the context of a protest against military operations in northern Iraq, did not constitute a criminal offence. Kazım Tosun and Ufuk Kalanç stood accused of "insult" by reason of a leaflet distributed at the press release of a protest action against the decision for the military operation in October 2008. he court acquitted Tosun and Kalanç and stated that "it was understood that the event was carried out on legal grounds despite the actions done by the defendants". However, the court decreed to confiscate the remaining 184 leaflets.

The Court of Appeals of the 9^th Circuit approved the decision taken by the Diyarbakır 6^th High Criminal Court against Diyarbakır Metropolitan Mayor Osman Baydemir. Accordingly, Baydemir has to pay a monetary fine of TL 1,500 (€ 750) based on charges of "praising crime and a criminal". The decision was taken on 10 March. Initially, the local court had sentenced Baydemir to imprisonment of one month and 20 days and converted the sentence into a monetary fine. The court was filed by the Public Prosecutor's Office under charges of "knowingly and willingly assisting an illegal organization". The charges were based on Baydemir's utterances made during an incident after the funeral ceremony of four members of the People's Defence Forces (HPG), an armed wing of the militant PKK, on 28 March 2006. The prosecutor stated that Baydemir intended to claim his stake with the HPG members by saying "Yesterday we felt sorrow for 14, today it is up to 15".

In the first hearing on 10 March, the Kadıköy (Istanbul) 4^th Magistrate Criminal Court decreed for the acquittal of 26-year old Alper Ateş who stood trial on the grounds of addressing Prime Minister Recep Tayyıp Erdoğan with the curse "God damn you". Ateş was indicted under article 125 of the Turkish Criminal Code (TCK) by reason of his saying, "Last week we could still brew our tea at home since we had a gas bottle. Now, the gas is finished and I am not ashamed to say: I go to my friend to take a bath. This is the way we live. The only thing I want to say is this: Tayyip, God damn you!" Ateş uttered these words when he rose to speak as part of a public campaign called "The people's podium" organized by the Community Centres between 27 December and 3 January in central Kadıköy, a busy district on Istanbul's Anatolian side. High school student M.B.G., who made a similar speech in the course of the same organization, will have to appear at court for the second time on 5 April.

The trial against 54 mayors of the Democratic Society Party (DTP) was continued on 10 March at the Diyarbakır 5^th High Criminal Court. The group of mayors is facing imprisonment of up to three years for each defendant. The mayors are tried under allegations of "makin propaganda for the PKK" on the grounds of their statement that they expected a satisfying announcement regarding claims that Abdullah Öçalan, imprisoned leader of the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) had been poisoned in prison. The mayors are indicted under article 7/2 of the Anti-Terror Law. The court decided to finish the hearing of all mayors and complete the case file. The South-East Journalists Association demanded in a meeting to have the allegations investigated by an independent commission.

Prosecutor Hüseyin Koçaslan demanded ten years imprisonment for journalist Yakup Önal of the local "Şarköy'ün Sesi" ("The Voice of Şarköy) newspaper for insulting mayor Can Gürsoy of the ruling AKP and two municipal council members, Olcay Yücel and Ercan Yücel. Önal had written an article entitled "Fairy tales for adults- Pinocchio and the nine dwarves". The case was continued on 10 May at the Şarköy Criminal Court of First Instance (province of Tekirdağ in Thrace) and postponed to June. The court decided to send the case file to another expert. The newspaper had started a series called "President Pinocchio and the nine dwarves" on 20 July 2005. The story started, "Once upon a time...in a country, there was a president called Pinocchio in a coastal town called Sarki. Pinocchio had nine dwarves who approved all of his decisions like a suction pump."

On 9 March, British collage artist Michael Dickinson was convicted by the Kadıköy (Istanbul) 2^nd Magistrate Criminal Court. The Court of Appeals had overruled the initial decision for his acquittal. Dickinson had been detained for a while because he had depicted President Recep Tayyıp Erdoğan as the pet dog of former US President Geroge W. Bush in one of his collages. He received a prison sentence which was converted into a monetary fine. Dickinson has been living in Turkey for 23 years and was faculty member of Yeditepe University (Istanbul). Dickinson was sentenced to imprisonment of 425 days according to article 125 of the Turkish Criminal Court (TCK). He was charged with having insulted the Prime Minister in his absence by reason of his duty. The court ruled that Dickinson disregarded Erdoğan's "pride and dignity". The sentence was converted into a monetary fine of TL 7,800 (€ 3,900). The punishment will be lifted if Dickinson does not commit any other "crime" within the coming five years.

On 9 March, Sabah newspaper journalist Nazlı Ilıcak was acquitted by the Istanbul 2^nd Criminal Court of First Instance in the case related to an article entitled "Defamation of Efkan Ala" published on 27 November 2008. Ilıcak stood accused of insulting Republican People's Party Deputy Atilla Kart. Public Prosecutor Atilla Ayvacı reminded the fact that Ilıcak wrote in her article that "Kart was insulted like a defamation and lying machine". Ayvacı stated that in the context of the entire article, this was to be evaluated as harsh criticism, remarking that politicians and high-ranking executives could become the subject of heavy criticism. He demanded Ilıcak's acquittal. Court President Sevim Efendiler agreed, "Even though criticism might be degrading and humiliating, it is part of a journalist's duty. Politicians have to tolerate this. It does not violate the law".

The İskenderun (eastern Mediterranean Coast) 2^nd Criminal Court of First Instance sentenced Democratic Society Party (DTP) İskenderun District Mayor Mahmut Aydıncı to three months imprisonment on the grounds of referring to Abdullah Öcalan, imprisoned leader of the PKK, as "respectable". Journalist Ersen Korkmaz was acquitted in the same trial. The decision was announced on 9 March. Both un-detained defendants stood accused of "praising crime and criminals" according to article 215 of the Turkish Criminal Code (TCK). The court took into account Aydıncı's "positive attitude throughout the trial" and mitigated the sentence to two months and 15 days before converting it into a TL 1,500 (€ 750) monetary fine. Newspaper owner Korkmaz and DTP district mayor Aydıncı are facing imprisonment of up to three years in another case on the grounds of an article including sentences such as "Closing Imrali Prison and its implementations should be taken seriously for the great contribution it would make to social peace" published on 18 November 2008. The trial was opened on 24 December 2008.

Fatih Taş from Aram Publishing was acquitted in the case regarding the publishing of the book entitled "The water of Avaşin is blue" ('Mavidir Avaşin'in Suları'). Taş stood accused for "spreading propaganda for the PKK", the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party. In the hearing on 9 March, the Istanbul 9^th High Criminal Court concluded that Taş did not commit a criminal offence. The publisher was facing up to 7.5 years imprisonment under article 7/2 of the Anti-Terror Act on the grounds of the book written by Selçuk Şahan. However, another twelve trials are pending against Taş. Taş was acquitted in the case about his book entitled "Our language is our existence-Our language is our culture" (Dilimiz Varlığımız-Dilimiz Kültürümüzdür'). In the trial about "33 Days in the storm" ('Tufanda 33 gün') Taş was handed down a ten months prison sentence. He furthermore received a TL 7,782 (€ 3,700) monetary fine for his book "Signs to Ammar" ('Ammar işaretleri'). Both latter cases are pending at the Court of Appeals. The publisher had to pay a TL 996 (€ 475) monetary fine decreed by the Istanbul 9^th High Criminal Court according to article 7/2 of the TMY on the grounds of the book "Gulen Azadiye".Taş was charged with "humiliating state institutions" by reason of the book "They say you are missing"('Kayıpsın diyorlar'). Applying article 301 of the Turkish Criminal Code (TCK), the Istanbul 2^nd Criminal Court of First Instance sentenced the publisher to a TL 650 (€ 319) monetary fine on 4 November 2008. The case is pending at the Court of Appeals. The Beyoğlu (Istanbul) 2^nd Criminal Court of First Instance had to drop a case related to Taş's books "The love crazed one from the mountain"('Dağın Mecnunu') and "Memories of a footpath guerrilla 4" ('Patika Gerilla Anıları 4') because the Ministry of Justice did not issue permission.

The former İHD Adana Branch President, Ethem Açıkalın, eventually took refuge in Switzerland after he stood trial under allegations of being a member of three different illegal organizations on the grounds of his condemning human rights violations. Açıkalan participated in a press release organized by representatives of the Adana Rights and Freedom Front (HÖC) in the Adana İnönü Park on 13 December 2007 to protest the murder of Kevser Mızrak, alleged member of the leftist militant Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front (DHKP-C). 4 days after Açıkalan attended the meeting he was arrested. After 5 months in detention he was released pending trial. Subsequently, charges were pressed against Açıkalın in three separate cases related to his alleged membership of the DHKP-C, the PKK and the MLKP. In a total of eight trials filed against him, Açıkalın stands furthermore accused of "making propaganda for the PKK", "inciting the public to hatred and hostility", "resistance against a civil servant on duty" and "opposing the Law on Meetings and Demonstrations". He is facing a total of more than 30 years imprisonment. The Adana 1st Criminal Court of First Instance found him guilty of "inciting hatred and hostility" in a single hearing on 27 October. Reason for the conviction is a broadcast of Roj TV on 29 November 2008 where Açıkalan had criticized the legal proceedings regarding children who were arrested and received severe sentences for attending protest actions. Açıkalın was handed a 3-year prison sentence. Açıkalın took refuge in Switzerland in November 2009.

On 2 March, the Adıyaman (south-east Turkey) Kahta Criminal Court of First Instance sentenced journalists Hacı Boğatekin to five years and Gergim.com website official Cumali Badur to six months imprisonment on the grounds of their statements about former Gerger prosecutor Sadullah Ovacıklı's alleged closeness to Fethullah Gülen. Gülen is the leader of the corresponding religious movement. Boğatekin was sentenced according to article 125 and 288 of the Turkish Criminal Code (TCK). Badur's sentence was converted into a monetary fine of TL 3,000 (€ 1,500). Hacı Boğatekin was arrested on 13 April 2008 and detained for 109 days in Kahta Prison. The latest decision deprived the journalist furthermore from most of his political and civil rights.

The Sabah newspaper writer for the Anakara supplement and Yeni Asır newspaper journalistHüseyin Kocabıyık was sentenced to a monetary fine of TL 320,000 (€160,000) in compensation because he criticized the evaluation of Tercüman newspaper writer Servet Kabaklı's insulting statement about Prof. Dr Baskın Oran within the scope of freedom of expression. The decision was communicated on 25 February. Kabaklı had used insulting terms such as "a flattered poodle wagging his tail when you put animal food in his bowl and call it a bone with flesh",  "a silly guy managing to keep himself awake", "idiot",  "certified traitor" and "poor". Kocabıyık had criticized the article in an ironic column entitled "HSYK" (Supreme Board of Prosecutors and Judges). HSYK members filed a criminal complaint against him on the grounds of "insulting the personality of the institution and the judges". In the first case, Kocabıyık was sentenced to a monetary fine of TL 280,000 (€ 140,000) in compensation. Subsequently, the Ankara 22^nd Civil Court of First Instance handed down a monetary fine of TL 80,000 (€40,000) to Kocabıyık upon a complaint filed by HSYK deputy member Fevzi Altınok. Additionally, a trial was opened against him by the Ankara Public Prosecutor. Kocabıyık is facing imprisonment of up to nine years and four months under article 125 of the TCK (defamation). Subject of the trial is the article entitled "Shame on the ones who let him talk and listen to him" about Prof. Dr Baskın Oran published on 22 October 2004. Kocabıyık had criticized the Court of Appeals General Legal Assembly's decision towards freedom of thought with a majority vote of 20 to 23.

On 24 February, the 2^nd Criminal Court of First Instance of Milas (Aegean coast) handed down a prison sentence of eleven months and 20 days to Melih Kaşkar, editor-in-chief of the local Milas Önder newspaper. Kaşkar was convicted on the grounds of an anecdote about Prime Minister Erdoğan and President Abdullah Gül published on 17 November 2007. The court stated that Erdoğan and Gül were called "dishonourable" in the anecdote. Kaşkar was initially sentenced to two years and two months in jail. Subsequently, the court mitigated the sentence to eleven months and 20 days due to "good conduct".

Aysel Tuğluk, subject to a political ban after the closure of pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP), was acquitted of charges of "spreading propaganda for a terror organization" by the Istanbul 10^th High Criminal Court on 19 February. Tuğluk was tried together with İrfan Dündar and Fırat Aydınkaya, lawyers of imprisoned Abdullah Öcalan, leader of the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party(PKK). Both lawyers were handed down prison sentences of ten months each. The court decided to suspend the sentence on probation of five years due to good conduct and a clean criminal record. Öcalan's lawyers Dündar and Aydınkaya were sentenced on the grounds of an article entitled "A chance for Öcalan" published in Özgür Gündem newspaper on 29 and 30 April 2009. The court mentioned that the article included statements made by Dündar and Aydınkakya such as "The lawyers conveyed Öcalan's opinion on the developments within KONGRA-GEL (PKK)", "He is experiencing the pain of change" and "Öcalan's opinions are important for an enduring peace".

On 18 February, the Beyoğlu (Istanbul) 2^nd Civil Court of First Instance acquitted Birgün newspaper writer Fikri Sağlar of charges related to insulting PM Erdoğan and the former Chief of General Staff, Yaşar Büyükanıt in an article. Court Judge İrfan Adil Uncu declared, "Considering the article written by the defendant as a whole, it is a news item written in a harsh and striking manner which remains within the borders of commentary and criticism. The indictment had described Erdoğan as the "complainant" and Büyükanıt as the "victim". It was based on the article entitled "Was the file given to Büyükanıt?"  published on 15 May 2008 in the Birgün daily. Sağlar received a monetary fine of TL 17,000 (€8,500) in compensation to be paid to Büyükanıt from the Ankara 1^st Civil Court of First Instance. TL 10,000 went to Büyükanıt and TL 7,000 to his wife respectively. However, the Court of Appeals overruled the decision and lifted the fine since they assessed the article on subject as within the borders of press freedom.

On 17 February, Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) Mardin MP Emine Ayna opened a lawsuit against editor-in-chief Hasan Çakkalkurt and journalist Rıfat Başaran from the Turkish daily Radikal on the grounds of an interview given by Ayna. Both journalist will be tried under charges of "spreading propaganda for the PKK organization", the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party, in accordance with article 7/2 of the Anti-Terror Act. The accusations are based on an interview with Ayna published in Radikal on 7 December 2009 entitled "Ayna: Our base tells us to go to the mountains". The journalists are facing up to five years imprisonment. DTP co-chair Ayna said in the interview, "All of us prepared our resignations. This prospect came up at our base anyways when the first closure case was opened. They told us 'What are you still doing in this Parliament? Resign and go to the mountains'. There is such a say at our base. It made us laugh at the time. But it expresses an emotion."

On 16 February, the Beyoğlu (Istanbul) 1^st Criminal Court of First Instance dismissed the case filed by detained Ergenekon defendant Veli Küçük against lawyer Erdal Doğan regarding a compensation claim of TL 10,000 (€ 5,000). Judge Mehmet İlker decreed to dismiss the case, declaring that the decision could be appealed. The trial had previously been dropped due to irrelevance and was renewed within the time limit. On the day of the assassination of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, Doğan had announced on NTV, Habertürk and STV that Küçük wanted to become co-plaintiff of the trial against Doğan's client Dink under article 301.

On 9 February, the Diyarbakır 5^th High Criminal Court sentenced Ozan Kılınç, concessionaire and chief editor of the Kurdish Azadiya Welat newspaper, to a total of 21 years and three months imprisonment on the grounds of "spreading PKK propaganda" in news items and articles in twelve issues of the paper. The court concluded that the contents of the Kurdish daily were opposing the Anti-Terror Act (TMY) and that Kılınç "committed crimes on behalf of an illegal organization although he is not a member of that organization". The court decided to deprive Kılınç of civil and official services. Until the end of his sentence, the journalist will be deprived of his rights to elect and run for election and of his rights to carry out any duty in a political party, association, foundation, company, cooperative, union and freelance work or trading.

Journalist Fatma Sarıbıyık from the local Değişim ve Gerçek ('Change and Truth') newspaper in Silivri/Istanbul received a two-year prison sentence for blaming Hasan Geyiktepe, former mayor of the closed Kavaklı Municipality, of irregularities. The decision was communicated on 5 February. Journalists issued a press release in front of the Silivri Courthouse on 9 February. Gerçek newspaper owner Ali Tarakçi was handed down a monetary fine of TL 8,000 (€ 4,000) for publishing the news. The court converted Sarıbıyık's prison sentence into a monetary fine of TL 14,000 (€ 7,000). Geyiktepe received a monetary fine of TL 3,000 (€ 1,500) on the grounds of insulting the journalist. Sarıbıyık declared to file an appeal.

Turkish folk singer Pınar Sağ and Mehmet Özcan are on trial because they allegedly praised İbrahim Kaypakkaya, founder of the Communist Party of Turkey/Marxist Leninist (TKP/ML)-TİKKO organization. The case on charges of "praising crime and a criminal" was opened on 9 December 2009 because of a statement made at a meeting in Tunceli organized by the independent mayor canditate, Murat Kur, before the local elections on 29 March 2009. Sağ and Özcan are facing imprisonment of up to two years each. The trial will be opened in May at the Tunceli Magistrate Criminal Court based on article 215 of the TCK. After her performance of a Turkish folk song, Sağ  had delivered a brief speech. She said, "To the comrades of Kaypakkaya, who always stood upright against the fascist government". Kaypakkaya had been injured in an armed conflict with the security forces in 1973. He was arrested and taken to the Diyarbakır Prison where he died of torture. Özcan had also expressed his affection for Kaypakkaya.

The Court of Appeals Public Prosecution approved the prison sentence imposed to Gerger Fırat newspaper owner Hacı Boğatekin on the grounds of his using the terms "Feto" and "Apo". The Malatya 3^rd High Criminal Court had sentenced Boğatekin to imprisonment of 18 months because of his article dd. 4 January 2008. He was charged with "spreading PKK propaganda" because he had written that the Fethullah Gülen congregation was more dangerous than the PKK organization. Boğatekin furthermore was in the dock for his statement about former Gerger prosecutor Sadullah Ovacıklı's alleged closeness to Fethullah Gülen.

The Beyoğlu (Istanbul) 2^nd High Criminal Court handed down a TL 2,000 (€ 900) converted judicial fine to writer and journalist Yalçın Ergündoğan under charges of "violating the personal rights" of Haydar Baş, Chairman of the Independent Party of Turkey (BTP). The charges were based on Ergündoğan's writing entitled "Disciples revolted against Haydar Baş", published in Birgün newspaper on 26 April 2005. Haydar Baş, head of the Kadiri religious order, had filed a complaint with Ergündoğan on the grounds of his article with a TL 20,000 (€9,000) compensation claim at the Istanbul 7^th Criminal Court of First Instance. He had opened another case against the writer at the Beyoğlu 4^th Magistrate Court with a TL 5,000 (€4,500) claim for damages for mental anguish.

The Kars Kağızman Criminal Court of First Instance sentenced former Deputy Mahmut Alınak to imprisonment of five months on the grounds of a speech made during his candidacy for parliament which contained a total of seven words in Kurdish in the beginning and the end. On 27 January, Alınak delivered a speech which he started with the words "Bı-raemin, xuşkemin, xerhatin, serçeva hatin" (Welcome my dear brothers and sisters) and finished with ""Bijî azadî" (long live freedom). The speech, taking 33 minutes in total according to the police records, also allegedly contained an insult of the Prime Minister and thus was reason for an additional punishment. Alınak said, "It is not my nature to insult people. [...] I was criticized because of an issue of the Prime Minister". The court sentenced Alınak to jail for 17 months and 15 days; the punishment was later on mitigated to 14 months and 17 days. This means that he will be in jail for a total of 19 months and 17 days.

The Ministry of Justice demanded the Court of Appeals to overrule a decision of a local court "for the benefit of the law" regarding the prosecution for journalist Can Dündar because of his documentary entitled "Mustafa". According to the decision published on 20 January, the Ministry claimed the decision given by the Sincan 2^nd High Criminal Court to be in breach of the Criminal Procedure Law, the European Convention on Human Rights and the caselaw of the Court of Appeals. The complaint against Düdar was filed by Ali Behram Şenbudak. The Sincan 2^nd High Criminal Court had decided to open a probe and a trial against Dündar.

On 20 January, the Adıyaman 2^nd Criminal Court of First Instance acquitted writer Naif Karabatak of charges of "insulting a public official via the media" based on the article entitled "Where are the prosecutors?" published in the Güne Bakış newspaper on 28 February 2008. Karabatak was sued by the Adıyaman University Rector, Prof. Dr Mustafa Gündüz, because he criticized that young women covering their heads were not allowed to the university after an according amendment in the constitution.

The Court of Appeals 9^th Chamber decided that the internet signature campaign "I apologize to the Armenians" ('Erminilerden Özür Diliyorum') does not imply any elements of crime. On 18 January, it turned out that the Sincan 1^st High Criminal Court abode by the decision of the Court of Appeals. Thus, the decsision against a trial related to the campaign was approved. The Court of Appeals had ruled that the campaign, initiated by Turkish intellectuals and supported by more than 30,000 people, did not contain any element of crime. The Ministry of Justice had applied to the Court of Appeals in order to overrule the local court's decision for the public benefit. The campaign was started in 2008 regarding the events in 1915 and caught on in various sections of society.

The Court of Appeals approved the prison sentece of six years and three months imposed on DİHA reporter Rüştü Demirkaya by the Malatya 3^rd High Criminal Court. The sentence was based on the statement of a confessor named Engin Korcum. The decision was published on 17 January. Demirkaya was arrested upon the statements of the confessor in 2006 and detained in the Malatya E Type Prison. He was then released pending trial and accused of "assisting and accommodating the PKK organization".

On 15 January, the trial against Taraf newspaper general publications director Ahmet Altan and his deputy Yasemin Çongar was continued at the Kadıköy (Istanbul) Criminal Court of First Instance. They are tried on the grounds of the article entitled "Judges". Altan is prosecuted for criticizing judge Osman Kaçmaz who intended to sue President Abdullah Gül. Furthermore he is tried because of comparing Atatürk to PKK leader Öcalan by quoting a 16-year-old in a program called "Political Square". Altan faces up to four years and eight months in jail under charges of "praising crime and a criminal". Çongra is tried on the grounds of an article entitled "Cemil Çiçek's way of thinking and a letter from Diyarbakır". She stands accused of praising the PKK and faces imprisonment of up to two years. In her statement, Çongar said that she had published the letter of a citizen who wants the war to end. Lawyer Ergin Cinmen declared to apply to the ECHR in case his client should be convinced. Yasemin Çongar was acquitted in the case related to her criticizing the Court of Appeals Public Chief Prosesutor, Abdurrahman Yalçınkaya, on the website of Zaman newspaper. A total of eight cases are still pending against her and Altan, Cinmen said. According to the lawyer, the cases are concerned with criticism of politics, the judiciary and the army; furthermore with thoughts on the progress of the Kurdish issue and "disclosing state secrets".

The Malatya 3^rd High Criminal Court sentenced 27 people to 6 years and 3 months in jail each. Dicle News Agency (DİHA) journalist Ersin Çelik is among the convicts sentenced under charges of "membership to PKK". The court took its decision in the last hearing on 14 January. The case was initiated upon the testimony of Recep Sade made in March 2008 and resulted in the conviction of 27 people of a total of 30 defendants. The lawyers of the defendants declared to file an appeal against the decision. They argued that the whole file indicates that Sade's statement was made upon the directive of the police. The attorneys claimed that the file does not contain any further evidence pointing to the alleged crime.

The Istanbul 11^th High Criminal Court ordered Devrimci Hareket ('Revolutionary Movement') magazine owner and responsible editor-in-chief Fehmi Kılıç to pay TL 16,660 (€8,330) in compensation under charges of "spreading propaganda for an illegal organization" in two articles. The sentence was based on two articles published in the magazine's special edition entitled "Liseli Dev-Genç" magazine ('High school students revolutionary youth'). It turned out that the decision had been given on 30 December. The court claimed that propaganda for the Turkey's People's Liberation Party-Front (THKP-C) and the Turkey's People's Liberation Army (THKO) was spread in the articles "It is a struggle for the youth of 'Liseli Dev-Genç' to handle their future" and "We commemorate Che" published in the youth magazine. Court President Şeref Akçay had initially sentenced Kılıç to 1,000 days imprisonment converted to a monetary fine applying article 7/2 of the Anti-Terror Law (TMY). Afterwards, the court mitigated the sentence to 833 days due to "good conduct" and converted the penalty into daily rates of TL 20 summing up to a total of TL 16,660 (approx. € 7,570). The first article given as a reason for crime deals with the "persistency" of İbrahim Kaypakkaya and with the "guidance" of Mahir Çayan, both in their capacity as leaders of the revolutionary youth in the 1970s. However, a name of an organization is not mentioned in the article.

The Beyoğlu (Istanbul) 3^rd Criminal Court of First Instance dismissed the compensation claim filed by the Beyoğlu Üç Horan Foundation against the Armenian Agos newspaper. The foundation opened two trials against the Agos weekly because of published news articles about the elections in the foundation. Lawyer Simon Çekem, representative of steering board president Apik Harabetoğlu, demanded a compensation of TL 50,000 (€ 25,000) from the newspaper's publication director, Etyen Mahçupyan, and editor-in-chief Aris Naldcı. The cases are based on the article entitled "Exam of choice" dd. 6 March 2009 and "Exam of choice in Beyoğlu" published on 13 March 2009. Reason for a trial and controversial discussions within the Armenian community were also the articles "Is this Ergenekon?" and "Whose stronghold are the Üç Horan?" published on 20 March 2009 and "Get it under control", "One more chance to Üç Horan", and "It is difficult to make those young ones understand", the latter one written by Yervant Dink, published on 1 June 2009. On 29 December 2009, the court decided that the articles did not justify any compensation.

Corrections and Legal Redress

The Beyoğlu (Istanbul) Public Chief Prosecution opened a trial against Riot Forces Police officer Tuncay Aktaş because he beat journalist Ozan Özhan. Özhan was beaten by Aktaş when he read a sign board on the wall of the former water depot reading "The Energy of 2010 spreads all over Istanbul" on Istanbul's centrally located Taksim Square. The journalist applied to the Beyoğlu Chief Prosecution putting forward that a police officer started a quarrel and beat him on 9 January 2010 when he paused on his way to read a sign board posted on the square. He identified the involved policeman in the scope of the related investigation. Özhan filed his complaint on 10 January. A case was opened against the police officer on charges of "actual bodily harm". Defendant Aktaş was appointed to a different province after the incident. He did not attend the second hearing of the case on 15 December. The court decided to confirm the defendant's new address and acquire footage of several MOBESE cameras (cameras in public). The trial was adjourned to 2 June.

Emrullah Özbey, owner of the News 49 ('Haber 49') newspaper published in Muş (south-eastern Turkey), is facing prison terms of two years before the Muş 2^nd Criminal Court of First Instance. He is tried on the grounds of having criticized a punishment regarding a news item about an examination for handicapped people that had been allegedly cancelled with a forged signature. The journalist was previously sentenced to a compensation fine because of the article on subject entitled "Signature Scandal" published on 17 January 2005. Meanwhile, journalist Özbey filed a TL 5,000 (€ 2,500) compensation claim against three relatives of Medini Yılmaz, AKP MP at the time Özbey was convicted, at the Muş 2^nd Criminal Court of First Instance because of alleged kidnapping and threatening. The case will start before the Muş Magistrate Criminal Court on 10 March.

Journalist Emin Bal applied to the Şırnak Beytüşşebap Public Prosecution because he was allegedly threatened by village guard Azat Kılıç. Bal apparently presented voice records and visuals. His complaint was dismissed.

Taraf daily newspaper journalist Mehmet Baransu announced that his phone has been wiretapped for more than a year by the Gendarmerie General Command Intelligence Presidency and the Gendarmerie Regiment Command of Van in the pre-dominantly Kurdish region in the south-east of Turkey. Baransu applied to court. The corresponding trial will be opened in Van on 21 February. Baransu had put forward that the Gendarmerie hid his name and phone number from the court. "They showed the judge on duty the IMEI number of the phone I was using and said they were going to eavesdrop on the IMEI number of a person called Şükrü Özkan, code name "Serdar", in the scope of the struggle against the PKK/Kongra-Gel terror organization", Baransu had claimed.

The trial related to the attack of journalist Hacı Boğatekin, owner of the local Gerger Fırat newspaper published in Adıyaman, was continued on 8 December. Boğatekin was allegedly attacked by municipality employees in 2009 when he was trying to take footage of a fire at a municipality waste dump in the area of the Forestry Directory. Mayor Arif Karatekin and his brother İlhan Karatekin stand trial before the Gerger Criminal Court of First Instance. The court decided to investigate whether the fire was the reason for a trial between the directorate and the municipality and whether the District Governorship initiated any procedures related to Karatekin.

Seven police officers and civilian Ferhat Gerçek stand trial at the Bakırköy (Istanbul) 9^th High Criminal Court related to shooting Gerçek on 7 September 2007 in Yenibosna when he was selling copies of the Yürüyüş magazine. Gerçek had been critically injured and is bound to a wheelchair since the attack. Gerçek and the police officers stand accused of "opposing the Law on Meetings and Demonstrations", "resistance to obstruct duty", insult of public officials" and "intentionally harming property" before the Bakırköy (Istanbul) 9^th High Criminal Court. At the hearing on 24 December, the court decided to determine Gerçek's age, saying that "the case file was not investigated sufficiently". The trial was postponed to 6 May 2011. Gerçek was 17 years old at the time of the incident. The indictment calls for prison sentences of 10.5 years each for defendants police officers Cengiz Çalış, Yavuz Özer, Aydın Özdere, Hasan Bayraktar, Emre Taşkın, Can Koçbülbül and Muzaffer Ünal. In the same case, Gerçek is facing imprisonment of up to 15 years.

In the course of an amendment of the Criminal Procedure Law (CMK) enforced on 25 July, appeals against the "postponement of the pronouncement of judgement" in press trials can be filed until 9 August 2010. According to the Turkish Journalists' Society (TGC), the rule of postponing the pronouncement of judgements in case of crimes that carry imprisonment of up to two years will now only apply with the condition that the defendant accepts the postponement. The TGC argued that the "postponement of the pronouncement of the judgement" amounts to supervising freedom of expression, and that the journalists' right to say "I am innocent" is taken away. The TGC was successful in having the article amended. This article will now only be applied in the case of the defendant's consent.

The Ankara 8^th Criminal Court of First Instance handed down a TL 7,500 (€ 3,750) monetary fine to Akif Beki, former spokesman of the Prime Ministry. The compensation is to be paid to Hürriyet newspaper reporter Hasan Tüfekçi. Beki was found guilty of identifying Tüfekçi as a target on the grounds of the article entitled "Security is left to God during the breaking of the fast". One year after the article had made the headlines, the Prime Ministry Press Centre annulled Tüfekçi's accreditation. Beki on the other hand had issued a writing to explain the procedures and principles for the accreditation. He had given the article as an example and announced that "the photographs were unreal, the news was made up and a lie and created at the desk". Thereupon, Tüfekçi filed a compensation claim against Beki because of "insult". The decision will be finalized if Beki does not file an appeal.

The General Staff Military Prosecution launched a judiciary investigation over allegations related to illegal wiretapping ordered by General Aslan Güner, Deputy Chief of General Staff. An administrative investigation had already been initiated by the General Staff on 30 August right after the news about the issue made the headlines of the nation-wide Taraf newspaper. Güner allegedly purchased wiretapping equipment to eavesdrop on "members of the PKK", the militant Kurdistan Workers Party. Prof. Baskın Oran from the Ankara University Faculty of Political Science was among the approximately 2000 people who were wiretapped. Oran filed a criminal complaint on 1 September. Oran's lawyer Oya Aydın requested the punishment of all people responsible according to Article 257 of the Turkish Criminal Code (TCK) on "misconduct in office", Article 134 on "violation of privacy" and Article 132 on "violation of the confidentiality of communication", respectively.

The Steering Board Member of the Çukurova Journalists Association (ÇGC), Özcan Aladağ, writer for the local Kent newspaper, was attacked by two unidentified young people on 9 August. He filed a complaint against both attackers and obtained a medical report from the Forensic Medicine Institute documenting the beating. The Çukurova Journalists Association demanded to arrest the attackers as soon as possible. The TGS Adana Branch and the Anatolian Sports Journalists Associaiton (ASGD) condemned the attack as well.

DİHA reporter Ömer Çelik was assaulted in the Istanbul district of Şişli by a group of attackers who called themselves üklücü ('idealists') in reference to the "Grey Wolves", an ultra-nationalist and neo fascist youth organization of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). An investigation was launched only after two weeks when Çelik had been attacked for the second time. Nobody was taken into custody in the scope of the first attack, even though footage of the incident was presented to the prosecution. After the second assault, the MHP Şişli District Mayor was taken into custody and released again. Çelik was called to the prosecution to give his statement in the end of August. No trial has been opened against the perpetrators yet. Çelik, student at the Faculty of Communications, was severely injured in the first attack. He underwent medical treatment in the brain surgeon ward and the orthopaedic ward of the Etfal Hospital. Çelik has got two cracks in his skull and his left arm is broken in three places below the elbow.

Journalist Durmuş Tuna, owner of the local Söke Gerçek newspaper published in Aydın (south-western Turkey), was assaulted on 26 July 2009. The 2^nd Magistrate Criminal Court handed down different prison sentences to four of the twelve suspects. The decision is pending before the Court of Appeals.

The trial regarding the attack on journalist Diya Yarayan who was severely injured is still pending at the Siirt High Criminal Court. Defendants Feyzi Aldemir, Hamit Kurt, Feyaz Aldemir and Tahir Aldemir were arrested and released after about ten months in detention. Yarayan, owner of the Birlik newspaper published in Siirt (south-eastern Anatolia), was severely injured when he was attacked in front of his home in the Bahçelievler District on 17 February 2009.

Dilek Karakoyun, official of the Tunceli Emek newspaper, was threatend by e-mails sent by Süleyman Çakmak, Manager of the Provincial Public Education Board. Karakoyun criticized that legal procedures went very slow as far as Çakmak is concerned but were significantly accelerated regarding an investigation to be launched against Karakoyun, columnist Helin Karakoyun and Mustafa Elveren. It was previously reported that the local newspaper had received the e-mails sent under the alias of "striking cobra" ('vurucu kobra') after publishing the article entitled "Public education and a strange education" written by Karakoyun. On the day of the publication of the article on 6 August 2009, the newspaper received an e-mail later on identified to have been sent by Çakmak. It read, "(...) You are the real fascists! You are racists. (...) I feel sorry for you! (...)".

The investigation into threats voiced by alleged member of the clandestine and illegal gendarmerie intelligence unit JİTEM, Orhan Tekin, launched upon a complaint filed by Sıddık Güler and Erdoğan Altan, DİHA reporters of the region of Van, was dropped in January by the Van Public Chief Prosecution. The lawyer of Güler and Altan, Murat Timur, filed an appeal against the decision that was reasoned with a "lack of concrete evidence".

Reactions to Censorship and Monopolization

The Freedom to Publish Award 2010 by the International Publications Association (IPA) went to Turkish publisher İrfan Sancı from Sel Publishing. The President of the IPA, Herman P. Spruijt, announced on 6 October 2010 in Frankfurt/Germany that laureate İsrapil Shovkhalov was chosen for his exemplary courage in upholding freedom to publish. The other short-listed candidates were publisher Rosspen of Russia and Bui Chat from Vietnam. İrfan Sancı, who was rewarded with the Special Award, was tried and faced imprisonment of up to nine years on the grounds of certain books he had introduced to the Turkish market. He was acquitted on 15 December.

On 14 October, BDP Deputy Akın Birdal called on the Parliament to take steps to provide press freedom in Turkey. He pointed to the fact that journalists and authors are still being convicted despite Turkey's signature under international agreements like the European Convention on Human Rights.

The "7^th Istanbul Gathering for Freedom of Thought" was held in Istanbul on 9/10 October 2010. The meeting was joined by internationally renowned linguist Noam Chomsky as well as US American expert on international law, Prof. Richard Falk, Hilal Elver, professor of international law at Stanford University, and PEN Writers Union Secretary General Eugene Schoulgin. Eleven journalists tried for their opinion or their journalistic activities conveyed their specific struggles to a broad audience, namely Nedim Şener, İsmail Saymaz, Merve Erol, Hülya Tarman, Pınar Selek, Seferi Yılmaz, Mehmet Desde, Cevdet Bağca, Haldun Açıksözlü, İnan Süver and Mehdi Tanrıkulu.

The Mahsus Mahal Literature Awards 2010 organized for writers in prison went to Mehmet Taşdemir and Özgür Soylu. Throughout his 14 years in prison, Taşkdemir wrote three books entitled "40 sad good-byes", "Misty evenings" and "Anisya's House". Soylu, imprisoned for ten years, wrote the book "Have a nice trip". Poet Sennur Sezer, who has been working in the field of literature for 45 years, received the Mahsus Mahal Friendship Award. The rewards were given to the laureates in November.

In the World Press Freedom Index published by Reporters without Borders (RSF) on 20 October, Turkey followed last year's tendency and fell back another 16 places to the 138^th rank. With a total of 178 countries on the list, Turkey is stands between Singapore and Ethiopia. Northern Cyprus performed much better in the 61^st position. "These declines can be explained, as far as Turkey is concerned, by the frenzied proliferation of lawsuits, incarcerations, and court sentencing targeting journalists", RSF announced. Turkey already fell back 20 places in last year's ranking of a total of 175 countries. It was in the 122th position slightly ahead of Venezuela and sharing the place with the Philippines. In 2008, the country held the 102^nd rank together with Armenia among a total of 173 countries. In 2007, Turkey was one place ahead on rank 101 among 163 countries.

On 30 October, the 2.5-year access ban to the global social video sharing site YouTube was lifted. The site had been closed because of videos allegedly insulting Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Turkish Republic. Those videos were removed from the YouTube data base and the site was re-opened to access from Turkey subsequently.

Hürriyet newspaper editor-in-chief Oktay Ekşi announced his resignation on 30 October. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan filed a lawsuit against Hürriyet newspaper and the nation-wide daily's editor-in-chief Oktay Ekşi on the grounds of the column entitled "We have not been as critical as we should". The article criticized the government's policies on the construction of the Hydroelectric Power Plants (HES) in the Ikizdere Valley in the eastern Black Sea region. The column read, "Now we can see the abilities of that mentality which sells the essentials to its own advantage". The Press Council Supreme Board issued a "warning" to Ekşi by majority vote. The Board had concluded that Ekşi violated Article 4 of the Professional Press Principles with his column.

"Using the Anti-Terror Law against adult demonstrators is a severe blow against freedom of expression, association and assembly in Turkey" said Emma Sinclair Webb, Turkey Researcher at Human Rights Watch (HRW) and author of the report "Protesting as a Terrorist Offence: The Arbitrary Use of Terrorism Laws to Prosecute and Incarcerate Demonstrators in Turkey".

Markus Löning, the Federal Government Commissioner for Human Rights Policy and Humanitarian Aid at the Federal Foreign Office of Germany, exchanged views on press freedom and freedom of expression with a group of journalists in the course of his visit to Turkey. In the meeting held at the German Consulate in Istanbul on Monday (1 November), Löning said, "All governments should protect press freedom". Löning also talked about his visit of the LGBT association LambdaIstanbul and emphasized the importance of opposing social gender based discrimination. The German Commissioner furthermore met Rakel Dink, wife of slain Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink and expressed his concerns about the development of the related murder trial.

YouTube officials agreed to remove certain footage showing Deniz Baykal, former Chairman of the main opposition party CHP, in a compromising situation from the video sharing site. The Telecommunication Communication Presidency (TİB) contacted the YouTube officials with an according request after the Ankara 11^th Magistrate Criminal Court had ruled for an access ban.

In the "Stand up for Journalism" action, the Freedom for Journalists Platform (GÖP) criticized the fact that 50 journalists are currently imprisoned in Turkey. The representatives of 23 journalism organizations made an announcement in Ankara demanded the release of their colleagues. The action on 5 November was part of the campaign "Freedom for Journalists in Turkey" launched in co-operation with the European Journalists Federation (EFJ). They demanded to "release all detained journalists immediately",

In the Turkey 2010 Progress Report issued on 9 November, the European Union Commission warned Turkey on the legislations regarding freedom of expression, the prosecution and conviction of journalists and pressure on the media. The report mentioned that a total of 4091 cases have been opened under charges of "violating the secrecy of an investigation" (Turkish Criminal Law TCK Art. 285) and "attempting to influence a fair trial" (TCK Art. 288) since 2007 in the scope of the Ergenekon investigation and other trials. The report underlines that restrictions of freedom of expression are continually being restricted under Article 301 of the TCK and other provisions. The report quoted the publication ban of the Kurdish newspaper Azadiya Welat and the prison sentences handed down to its chief editors as an example.

On 17 November, Article 19 demanded immediate action on legal regulations to meet the commitments given to Turkey regarding the implementation of the European Convention on Human Rights. The London-based human rights organization urged Turkey that appoints officers to the Presidency of the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers to initiate reforms in terms of press freedom and freedom of expression.

According to an announcement made by RSF, the number of investigations and trials lodged against journalists in Turkey under the Anti-Terror Law (TMY) has increased. The TMY "is arbitrarily used to convict and censor journalists who report about the Kurdish question and certain political figures", the international journalists organization stated.

Employees of TRT protested against the lay-offs of 33 workers from several areas. A group affiliated to the Media and Communication Workers Union (Haber-Sen) demonstrated in front of the building of TRT Istanbul Radio on 24 November against the lay-offs at contracted companies.

On 1 December, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) expressed concern about the "frenetic rate" of prosecutions and investigations and warned that repressive media laws have imposed "a regime of censorship in Turkey and have had a disastrous impact of press freedom and free expression". RSF discounted the government's anticipated amendments of articles 285 (complicity in violating the confidentiality of a judicial investigation) and 288 (trying to influence the course of a fair trial") of the Turkish Criminal Law (TCK) as "cosmetics changes". The international organization emphasized that the TCK included more than 25 articles that "directly restrict press freedom and free speech". The organization furthermore criticized delays and obstacles in the trials regarding the murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink in 2007.

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". The police of Çine seized a thousand copies of the newspaper immediately.

Habertürk newspaper writer Bekir Coşkun was made redundant on 20 September. At a meeting of the Platform for Freedom of Journalists on 24 September chaired by Orhan Erinç of the TGC, it was criticized that Coşkun's lay-off had put into practice what President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had announced in a speech on 26 February. He said, "Columnists cannot write whatever they want. You are paying your writers so get them under control. Don't let them write, sack them".

In a press release issued on 14 September in Vienna, Dunja Mijatovic, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, called upon Turkey today to release imprisoned journalists and implement the much needed media legislation reform in the country. "My Office has been monitoring with growing concern the increase in number of ongoing lawsuits that threaten journalists with imprisonment in Turkey," Mijatovic wrote in a letter to Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu. "Currently there are more than 40 journalists in prison, and hundreds of others are facing lawsuits with potential imprisonment if convicted." "These figures make reporting on issues of public interest especially dangerous. The threat of prison can hinder critical reporting, which is indispensable in a democracy," she added. In an announcement previously issued by the European Turkish Journalists Association (ATGB), signed by President Gürsel Köksal, the association drew attention to the fact that 48 journalists are in prison. The ATGB declared their support for journalists organizations struggling for press freedom.

On the occasion of its 60^th anniversary, the International Press Institute (IPI) rewarded 60 journalists from all over the world as "Press Heroes", among them also the Turkish journalist Nedim Şener, reporter for the nation-wide Milliyet daily. Meeting at their 59^th Annual General Assembly on 13 September in Vienna, IPI members unanimously passed a number of resolutions regarding press freedom in different countries. The IPI also condemned the continued imprisonment in Turkey of dozens of journalists and called on the Turkish authorities to release all journalists jailed because of their work.

The application of the DİHA News Agency submitted to the Diyarbakır Governorship Press Directorate to follow the meeting of Prime Minister Erdoğan in Diyarbakır on 2 September was declined. The Governorship Press Directorate apparently also refused permission to the broadcast institutions of the Fırat News Agency (ANF), Günlük and Azadiya Welat newspapers and Roj TV.

The Foreign Minister, Ahmet Davutoğlu, said that he found it disturbing that Turkey, taking the lead in terms of reforms in the European Council, comes up frequently on the agenda of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). Journalist Cumhur Kılıççıoğlu applied to the ECHR the previous year because he had been convicted for drawing attention to problems at the Siirt Faculty of Education belonging to the Dicle University. The 72-year-old journalist called on Davutoğlu, "We want an amicable agreement first of all and justice after that".

The Istanbul 11th High Criminal Court suspended the publication of the Rojev newspaper for one month because of alleged "propaganda for the PKK". The paper had only started publishing on 24 August. The decision is based on the 36th issue dated 28 August. It featured a large picture of imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan and a flag of the PKK on the issue's front page. Furthermore, the ban stemmed from a picture printed on page 8 showing Öcalan and other members of the illegal organization.

On 21 August, the Istanbul 14^th High Criminal Court suspended the publication of the Azadiya Welat newspaper, the only nation-wide Kurdish daily published in Turkey, on the grounds of "spreading propaganda for an illegal organization" and "praising criminals". Reason for the decision is the issue published on the very same day. This was the 8th publication ban for the Kurdish daily. The paper's responsible editor-in-chief, M. Nedim Karadeniz, said that the newspaper "faced unlawful bans" for eight issues within the past four years the daily was published.

The issue of the first quarter of 2010 of the three-monthly Güney magazine was confiscated upon a decision of the Mersin 2^nd Magistrate Criminal Court given on 19 August. The police seized the copies on 26 August from the printing house of the magazine in Mersin (eastern Mediterranean coast), informing the staff about the confiscation decision. The article entitled "Children Rights of (Kurdish) children in the dungeon" written by Ali Dağdeviren was given as the reason for the seizure.

The Presidency of the General Staff announced to have launched an investigation into allegations related to General Aslan Güner, the Deputy Chief of General Staff. Güner is alleged to have illegally wiretapped about 2,000 people in 2007. Intellectual Prof. Baskın Oran and Istanbul Deputy of the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) Sebahat Tuncel are supposed to be among the many people whose phones were bugged.

Under the direction of the Turkish Journalists Association (TGC), 14 professional press organizations came together to emphasize that no journalist should be kept in detention on the grounds of his/her writings. After discussing "disadvantageous provisions" related to freedom of press and communication in the Turkish Criminal Law (TCK) in a meeting at the Press Council, the participating organizations decided to establish a "Freedom for Journalists Platform" and a "Commission for Action". TGC President Orhan Erinç became the first head of the newly founded platform.

The TGC, TGS, TGF, TGF and the Press Institute Association demanded a fair trial for journalists and criticized the lengthy period of detentions which were transformed into punishments. On 18 August, they called on the government to care for press freedom and the public's right to be informed.

Yaman Akdeniz, member of the Bilgi University School of Law, and Kerem Altıparmak, lecturer at the Ankara University Faculty for Social Sciences, took the access ban imposed on the Playboy website to court. On 6 August, the Telecommunication Communication Presidency (TİB) used its executive authority to ban access to the www.playboy.com website. Access to the site was suspended without a related court decision.

On 25 July, the Media Association expressed their regret about journalist Şamil Tayyar's announcement to give a break to writing articles because of the trials opened against him. Tayyar is a columnist and the Ankara correspondent of the Star newspaper. In the announcement on 22 July, the association said, "It is worrisome in terms of freedom of expression that thousands of journalists are being tried for their articles in this country that is negotiating for EU accession. It is alarming that journalists are given monetary fines and prison sentences". Tayyar was sentenced to a total of 50 months imprisonment in the scope of three trials on the grounds of articles regarding the Ergenekon investigation and Colonal Dursun Çiçek, alleged creator of the "Action Plan against Reactionary Forces".

The Journalists Association of Turkey  (TGC) distributed this year's Prize for Press Freedom on 24 July. The personal award went to Hürriyet newspaper writer Sedat Ergin. Journalists İrfan Aktan, İsmail Saymaz and Vedat Kurşun were awarded on behalf of all journalists facing imprisonment or currently being detained. The institutional award was given to bianet. The award for imprisoned journalist Vedat Kurşun, former chief editor of the Kurdish Azadiya Welat newspaper, was received by his father, Şükrü Kurşun.

On 17 July, employees of Günlük and Azadiya Welat newspapers, the Fırat Distribution Company and the Dicle News Agency (DİHA) released a press statement in the place of the Turkish Journalists Association (TGC) to draw public attention to the oppression they have been facing throughout the past couple of months when they were covering different incidents. The Ankara correspondent of Günlük newspaper, Hüseyin Aykol, pointed out that the "customs of a free press" encountered various forms of harassment during the first six month of 2010. Aykol summarized the attacks against employees of the participating media organizations during the last six months as follows: Metin Alataş, working for the Azadiya Welat newspaper in Adana, was found hung in a tree on 4 April. On 14 June, DİHA reporter Ersin Çelik received a prison sentence of six years and three months. He was tried with another 30 defendants who were alleged members of the Patriotic Democratic Youth. DİHA reporter Murat Altunöz was refused permission to cover a boycott action organized by the Students Association of the Mustafa Kemal University in Hatay (eastern Mediterranean coast). He was made to enter the car of plainclothes gendarmerie officers who tried to seize Altınöz's camera. DİHA reporter Pınar Ural was attacked by unidentified persons in a public bus after she had covered an event on 17 May. The Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF), condemned the physical violence imposed on the DİHA reporters in a letter sent to President Gül.

Journalists in Zonguldak (Black Sea coast) were stopped from attending the first hearing of the case against Seçkin Özdemir, mayor of the Kilimli Municipality of Zonguldak. Özdemir stands accused of illegally selling 114 tonnes of scrap iron and embezzling TL 50,000 (€ 25,000) obtained in the sale. The first hearing of the case was held on 16 July. Representatives of the Zonguldak mainstream media were not allowed into the court room. When they insisted on entering, they were made to leave by rough means of physical force. Some of the journalists called 155 for help from the police but no team was sent to the court. The press people claimed that the police staff in the court room remained as audience, too. However, the prosecutor commented, "This is not my business, the police should take care of it". The following day (17 July), the local Halkın Sesi (The People's Voice) newspaper titled on the front page "The embezzlement trial against Kilimli Mayor Seçkin Özdemir started yesterday but..." The subheading read "This news has been censored". The Zonguldak Branch of the Contemporary Journalists Association (ÇGD) and the Karaelmas Journalists Association made critical statements in which they called the authorities on duty.

The Ankara 13^th Criminal Court of First Instance dismissed an appeal of the Internet Technology Association (İNETD) against the ban of the video sharing website YouTube in Turkey in the middle of June. Access to YouTube in Turkey was banned by the Ankara 1^st Magistrate Criminal Court on 5 May 2008, on the grounds that it contained videos insulting the memory of Turkish statesman Atatürk. The Minister of Transport, Binali Yıldırım, emphasized in several statements made to the press that the access ban to YouTube did not only stem from the videos that had insulted the memory of Atatürk. Yıldırım criticized the website officials because they refused to open up a representation in Turkey and thus evaded Turkish tax laws. İNETD lawyer Nihad Karslı announced to appeal the decision and go as far as the ECHR in case the appeal was going to be rejected again.

About 2,000 people gathered in the popular Taksim Square on Istanbul's European side to protest against restrictions on the internet on 17 July. Non-governmental organizations calling for freedom of the internet, professional organizations, representatives of internet sites and their readers, employees of private enterprises who are negatively affected by internet censorship and human rights activists were among the demonstrators. The Initiative announced that they got organized via the internet because they think that the citizens' freedom of expression and right to be informed could not be restricted. The Initiative emphasized that they are going to seek a solution on the street.

The Television Broadcasters Association (TVYD) as part of the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) determined in compliance with all national channels that certain "principles of news should be followed in situations of terror and other extraordinary circumstances". It was agreed to put a time limit on "breaking news" flashes on television and not to announce the names of people killed in armed conflicts before their families have been informed by the authorities. Another principle announced was to "refrain from all sorts of broadcasts that deliver a justification of terror, that could be perceived as propaganda for the attackers and that encourage to further attacks". The President of the Contemporary Journalists Association (ÇGD), Ahmet Abakay, criticized that the principles are "open to abuse".

Journalist Fatih Altaylı demanded via his lawyer to ban 97 entries about him on the Ekşi Sözlük ('Sour Dictionary') website that were supposedly targeting his personal rights. The lawyer of Altaylı Publications Director of the Habertürk newspaper, requested the Beyoğlu (Istanbul) 4th Magistrate Criminal Court to remove the contents on subject from the website. On 9 July, the court decreed to remove the 97 entries from publication. The ban fuelled criticism voiced on Ekşi Sözlük by internet users.

Access to the Şanlıurfa.com internet site has been banned because of news related to the Deputy Governor of Şanlıurfa, Yıldıray Malğaç, and referring reader comments. The 1^st Civil Court of First Instance of Şanlırurfa in south-eastern Turkey decided to take precautionary measures on 2 July. An appeal against the access ban filed ten days later was dismissed. The decision was based on Article 24 of the Civil Law (No. 4721) on attacks on personal rights. Assoc. Prof. Yaman Akdeniz from the Law School of Bilgi University in Istanbul evaluated the situation: "The court's decision of the access ban is entirely contrary to the law. It cannot be accepted that this site, which contains political statements, is censored in an unlawful manner. Freedom of the press and the media cannot be restricted. It must not be restricted by courts".

Audible and visual materials of the Holy Quran "incorrectly or incompletely published on the internet" will be added to the items of censored contents in the internet. Prof. Yaman Akdeniz from the Istanbul Bilgi University School of Law and Prof. Kerem Altıparmak from the Ankara University Faculty of Social Science announced in a joint statement that a new commission to be established within the Department of Religious Affairs will decide on the contents to be removed. In accordance with the Law on the Establishment and Duties of the Department of Religious Affairs and the Law on the Amendment of Certain Laws, a magistrate law court shall decide on an access ban regarding publications in the internet upon the application of the Department. The law was published in the Official Gazette on 13 July (No. 27640). According to the new Rule on the Review and the Recitation of the Quran, "audible and visual publications of fragments or of the complete Holy Quran" shall be seized and destroyed by decision of the referring magistrate law court upon the application of the Department if the publication is deemed to be "incorrect and incomplete".

A meeting was held in the Sütlüce Congress Centre in Istanbul on 13 July related to the journalists on board of the flotilla carrying humanitarian help that was attacked by Israel on its way to Gaza. The meeting aimed at making the voices of the journalists heard and seeking their rights. About 20 journalists from different countries organized a press conference under the name of the Flotilla Free Press (FFP). They gave testimony of their experiences on the flotilla. The Israeli Army stopped the vessels on 31 May in international waters. On the Mavi Marmara vessel coming from Turkey, eight protestors and Cevdet Kılıçlar, responsible journalist for the internet site of the Human Rights and Freedoms (İHH) Humanitarian Help Foundation died in the attack. It was said that the attack on the journalists and their experiences later on constituted violations of human rights and press freedom but that Israel was not able to win their propaganda battle this time. Taraf newspaper reporter Ayşe Sarıoğlu who was on the vessel as well read out the joint statement. She claimed that the attack was contrary to international law. She added that the journalists' material and their personal belongings had been seized and that most of it was still not returned. Sarıoğlu said that they were searched, handcuffed and kept in prison. About 60 journalists had joined the flotilla, she added.

Azadiya Welat, a daily newspaper publishing in Kurdish, has once more been subjected to a one-month publication ban under allegations of "spreading propaganda for the PKK". The Istanbul 12^th High Criminal Court had already decreed to stop the publication of the daily for one month on 27 March because imprisoned PKK leader Öcalan had been described as the "leader of the Kurdish people" in one of the articles. On 28 March, the same court imposed the same punishment on the same paper once more because of alleged spreading of propaganda. As reasons for the publication ban the court quoted an article written by Medeni Ferho on page seven entitled "Hefteya Cengaweriyê Destana Azadiyê ye" ('Heroism week is the saga of freedom') and the article "Çîroka Berîtana Herokolî" ('The story of Herekoli Beritan') by Özgür Serhat. Moreover, the obituary of PKK member Fatih Çetin (Xemgin Amed) entitled "Bîranîn" ('Remembrance') published on page seven was given as the third reason. The Azadiya Welat newspaper was handed down a total of seven one-month publication bans within the past four years.

The management of the Yıldız Technical University (YTÜ) launched an investigation into Assoc. Prof. Dr Ergun Aydınoğlu, member of the Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences. Aydınoğlu had talked about the Kurdish question in a television program. Thereupon, the investigation was opened because of his article where he supported Özgür Sevgi Göral who had not be appointed to the staff. Aydınoğlu stands accused of "giving unauthorized information or statements on official topics beyond scientific discourse and publishing to news agencies and radio and television institutions". The accusations are based on the Disciplinary Regulations for Higher Education Institutions, Administrators, Faculty Members and Civil Servants which stem from the time after the military coup on 12 September 1980. Göral was subject to an investigation because of a statement given on Skytürk TV in 2009. Göral had not been appointed to the staff because "he was not neutral and loyal to the state, he could not teach the students a service attitude connected to Atatürk nationalism and because he did not have the will power to strengthen the unity and the solidarity of the nation".

European Court of Human Rights

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) handed down a monetary fine to Turkey on the grounds of illegal restrictions of freedom of expression. The case was based on the application of executives of five weekly magazines. Erdal Ölmez and Ali Turgay, owners of the magazines Özgür Yorum, Haftaya Bakış, Yedinci Gün, Politika and Ayrıntı, had opened the case at the international court. On 5 October, the ECHR announced their verdict for a violation of Article 10 of the European Convention of Human Rights on "Freedom of Expression".

The ECHR sentenced Turkey regarding the case of Nur Radio TV on the grounds of a restriction of freedom of speech. Nur Radio TV had applied to the Strasbourg-based court because the Radio Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) had revoked the company's publication licence on the grounds of pro-Islamic publications. The ECHR declared, "The decision to revoke the broadcasting licence had been taken by the RTÜK on account of the repetition of the offences of which the applicant company was accused: in particular, after being banned temporarily for six offences, it was found to have committed a further offence by broadcasting its programme of 19 November 2001".

On 14 September, the ECHR convicted Turkey of a violation of the right to life, the right to an effective remedy and freedom of expression in the scope of the trial on the murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink. Dink, then editor-in-chief of the Armenian Agos newspaper, was killed in front of his office on 19 January 2007. Turkey was sentenced to a monetary fine of € 133,595 in total. The ECHR furthermore decided for a violation of freedom of expression regarding Dink's conviction under article 301 of the Turkish Criminal Code (TCY), which bans "insults" to the Turkish state.

The ECHR convicted Turkey of an illegal restriction of freedom of expression on the grounds of the trials held against Aylin Güzel, owner and editor-in-chief of the Maya magazine, and Aziz Özer, chief editor of the Yeni Dünya için Çağrı magazine ('Call for a new world'). The decision was announced on 6 July. The ECHR unanimously decided for a violation of Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights on Freedom of Expression. Turkey has to pay a total of € 2,170 and another € 3,120 in compensation for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage to applicants Gözel and Özer, respectively. In February 2003, the Maya magazine published an article entitled "Imminent war in Middle East threatens Turkish Bourgeoisie!". It contained a statement by an executive of the illegal Marxist-Leninist/Turkish Communist Party (TKP/ML), concerning hunger strikes by prisoners of F type prisoners. Gözel was acquitted of charges of "spreading propaganda for an illegal organization" but she was sentenced to a monetary fine on the grounds of publishing a statement of an illegal organization. Aziz Özer was sentenced to a monetary fine under the Anti-Terror Law. The publication of the magazine was suspended for two weeks on the grounds of having "undermined the national security".

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu finds it disturbing that Turkey, taking the lead in terms of reforms in the European Council, comes up frequently on the agenda of the ECHR. "Freedom of expression is a matter of principle. I cannot reconcile with making a defence. Many of the cases have been pending for ten years. These are violations caused by the conditions of 28 February [the military memorandum issued by the Turkish Military Leadership in 1997]... A defence must not be made", Davutoğlu stated.

The case opened by Abdurrahman Dilipak against the file related to the complaint of Güven Erkaya has reached its final state. Erkaya had opened a trial against Dilipak because his house was exempt from seizure after the journalist had been convicted to a heavy monetary fine on the grounds of his article entitled "If the pasha does not listen to reason". Dilipak is still negotiating with Erkaya to reach an amicable agreement while the pronouncement of judgement concerning the trials against Hurşit Tolon and İlgaz Zorlu are expected soon.

On 2 June, the ECHR decreed for the payment of € 17,000 (approx. TL 32,300) in compensation for politician Abdulkerim Bingöl. Bingöl had been sentenced to imprisonment under charges of "inciting the public to hatred and hostility" on the grounds of a speech he delivered at the Democratic People Party (DEHAP) congress. The State Security Court (DGM) had sentenced Bingöl to imprisonment of one year and six months according to the former Article 312 of the Turkish Criminal Law. The politician had quit his duty as a Muslim prayer leader in order to become a DEHAP candidate in the elections. He had previously served a prison sentence of seven months because of his thoughts he expressed on the Kurdish question on 28 February 2003. The ECHR unanimously decided for an illegal restriction of Bingöl's right to freedom of expression.

On 12 June, the ECHR sentenced Turkey to a monetary fine of € 22,600 (TL 44,000) in compensation because of the one-month publication suspension imposed on the two pro-Kurdish weekly newspapers Yedinci Gün ('Seventh Day') and Toplumsal Demokrasi ('Social Democracy'). 12 Turkish press professionals had applied to the ECHR, namely the owners, executive directors, editors-in-chief, news directors and journalists of the two weekly newspapers. In the 15 June hearing, the ECHR decreed that there had been a violation of Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights concerned with freedom of expression. The ECHR criticized the domestic courts, which "restricted the essential role of the press as a public watchdog in a democratic society". The publication of Yedinci Gün and Toplumsal Demokrasi newspapers was suspended for one month in January 2008. The decisions taken by high criminal courts were based on article 6/2 of the Anti-Terror Law (printing or publishing propaganda for a terrorist organization).

On 8 June, the ECHR decreed for a monetary fine of € 3,000 in compensation for each of the applicants Ercan Gül, Deniz Kahraman, Zehra Delikurt and Erkan Arslanbenzer. The complainants had been arrested in November 1999 under charges of "propaganda for an illegal organization" because they allegedly shouted slogans in favour of the TKP/ML organization (Turkey Communist Party/Marxist-Leninist). The ECHR found Turkey guilty of violating the right to freedom of expression. The court deemed the sanctions and procedures as "disproportionate" and decided for a monetary fine of € 12,000 in total.

On 8 June, The European Court of Human Rights unanimously convicted Turkey of a violation of freedom of expression because of seizing the book "Tarkan, the Star Phenomenon" ('Tarkan, Yıldız Olgusu'). The ECHR decreed for a € 2,000 monetary fine in compensation to be paid to applicant Özcan Sapan, executive of Chiviyazıları Publishing. Another € 1,000 has to be paid for court expenses, so the total fine for Turkey sums up to € 3,000 (TL 6,000). The book is based on a study into the star phenomenon of the popular Turkish singer Tarkan carried out by Assoc. Prof. Dr N. Aysun Yüksel, member of the Faculty of Communication at the Anatolian University. The study was published by Chiviyazıları Publishing.

On 20 May, the ECHR convicted Turkey of violating freedom of expression in the case of USA citizen Norma Jeane Cox. Cox had applied to the ECHR because she had been banned from re-entering Turkey due to her religious activities. Having worked as a lecturer at Istanbul University and the Middle East Technical University in Ankara during the 1980s, she was expelled and banned from re-entering the country by order of the Ministry of the Interior in 1986 on account of statements she had made before students and colleagues on Kurdish and Armenian issues. The ECHR decreed for a violation of Article 10 and sentenced Turkey to a monetary fine of € 12,000 in compensation.

On 20 May, the ECHR unanimously decided for a violation of freedom of speech regarding the seizure of Günlük Evrensel newspaper ('Daily Universal'). The newspaper allegedly continued its publication after it had been suspended as the result of a raid. Turkey has to pay a total of € 9,000 (approx. TL 18,000) in compensation to newspaper officials Fevzi Saygılı and Nizamettin Taylan Bilgiç. The Istanbul State Security Court had ruled for a one-month suspension of the Yeni Evrensel ('New Universal') newspaper in November 2000. The publication of the Yeni Evrensel newspaper was suspended on 22 July 2001. The next day, the Günlük Evrensel newspaper started publishing. The police notified the newspaper of the decision to close down the daily on 8 September 2001.

On 16 March, the ECHR sentenced Turkey to a € 1,800 fine in compensation to be paid toAdnan Görkan, distributor of Evrensel ('Universal') newspaper. Görkan had been arrested by the police in June 2004 because of vending copies of the daily in a café. Judges Işıl Karakuş from Turkey and Danutė Jočienė from Lithuania voted against the decision. Görkan was asked for his identity papers by the police while selling copies of Evrensel daily in a café in June 2004. According to Görkan, the newspaper copies were seized by the police and he was taken to the police station. Görkan alleged that his detention in police custody for almost three hours had been arbitrary. The prosecutor declined Görkan's request to take action against the responsible people and decided to discontinue the proceedings. Thereupon, Görkan applied to the ECHR on 25 March 2005.

The Mayor Candidate for the district of Gaziemir (Izmir) Şeyhmuz Seyhan from the defunct DTP, applied to the ECHR because of his eight-month sentence for speaking Kurdish in the run-up to the elections. His sentence had been reduced to six months and the pronouncement of the judgement had been postponed.

On 16 February, the ECHR convicted Turkey of a violation of freedom of expression in the context of the book "The Eleven Thousand Rods" ('Les onze mille verges') by French writer Guillaume Apollinaire published in 1907. The book was censored in Turkey and its publisher, Hades Publishing owner Rahmi Akdaş, was convicted by a Turkish court. The ECHR pointed out that the requirements of morals depended on time and place and therefore national authorities were more competent to perceive whether restrictions were necessary. However, in this case it should not be ignored that the work had been initially published more than a century ago. Since Akdaş had not requested compensation, the court refrained from sentencing Turkey to a compensation fine.

On 8 February, it was reported that Kaos GL applied to the ECHR on the grounds of the seizure of the LGBT organization's magazine issue on the topic of "pornography". The issue had been seized by the government because of a "violation of the public moral". In July 2006, the Ankara 12^th Magistrate Criminal Court decided to confiscate the 28^th issue of the magazine of the Kaos Gay and Lesbian Cultural Research and Solidarity Association (Kaos GL) because it was found to "oppose the public morality". The picture on subject was a picture by artist Taner Ceylan entitled "Taner & Taner".

On 2 February, the ECHR convicted Turkey of a violation of Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights and decreed for a monetary fine of €20,000. The violation of the convention was based on the conviction of Esmer Savgın and Kerem Savgın because they had allegedly shouted slogans in favour of the PKK at the Newroz celebrations in 2001.

On 26 January, the ECHR sentenced Turkey to a total fine of € 43,500 in compensation in two cases concerned with one-month bans of five newspapers and the punishment of criticism related to prison operations respectively. The applicants were journalists fromGündem, Yedinci Gün, Haftaya Bakış, Yaşamda Demokasi and Gerçek Demokrasi newspapers and owner and editor-in-chief of the monthly Yeni Dünya İçin Çagrı ('Call for a new world') magazine Aziz Özer. The ECHR once more handed down a sentence referring to article 6/2 last paragraph of the TMY, which provides the possibility to silence newspapers for up to one month. The domestic courts did not leave it with the publication bans. Furthermore, newspaper executives Lütfi Ürper, Ali Turgay, Hüseyin Aykol and Hüseyin Bektaş were facing imprisonment in the trials opened against them. Özer was tried before the Beyoğlu (Istanbul) High Criminal Court for criticizing prison operations carried out in December 2000, leaving almost 30 inmates dead. In the magazine's February issue in 2001, the journalist described the operations as "barbaric attacks". On 20 February 2001, the Beyoğlu Magistrate Criminal Court seized that month's issue of the magazine. Regarding the full publication ban imposed on the newspapers, the ECHR declared: "This went beyond any necessary restraint and amounted to censorship". Concerning the publications in Özer's magazine about the prison operations, the ECHR indicated that they were "of great interest to public opinion". The court stated that "the limits of permissible criticism are wider with regard to the government than in relation to private citizens".

On 19 January, the lawyers of 53 detainees, among them officials of the closed pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) and Gün TV General Publications Coordinator Ahmet Birsin, applied to the ECHR. The detainees have been kept in prison for a whole year under allegations regarding urban settlements of the Democratic Confederation of Kurdistan (KCK), the umbrella organisation that includes the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).They have not been brought before a judge ever since. Upon the directive of the Diyarbakır Public Chief Prosecutor's Office, former DTP deputy co-chairs Selma Irmak and Kamuran Yüksek were arrested together with another 51 people on 14 April 2009 in the course of an operation against the PKK organization. They have been detained in the Diyarbakır D Type Prison in the south-eastern Turkey.

The Çağdaş Tuzla newspaper, publishing in Istanbul, decided to apply to ECHR in order to bring former Justice and Development Party (AKP) mayor Mehmet Demirci to justice by reason of the unlawful closure of the newspapers offices. Demirci had the newspaper premises locked up and sealed on 26 September 2006. Owner of Çağdaş Tuzla ('Contemporary Tuzla) newspaper Halil Özen said that they took the decision to approach the ECHR upon the unlawful order of the Tuzla Public Prosecution to drop the case against Demirci. The newspaper was closed under allegations of "unauthorized work in a vacant building" and resumed work upon a referring judicial decision. Issues regarding Demirci's religious perceptions and his implementations in the municipality were broadly discussed in the media in this context.

RTÜK Applications

On 10 October, the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) imposed a monetary fine of TL 286,160 (approx. € 143,000) to the Turkish news channel CNN Türk because of the program "What's going on" ('Ne Oluyor'). The program touched upon topics regarding the Kurdish question such as democratic autonomy, calls for a ceasefire and education in the mother tongue. RTÜK had already issued a warning to CNN Türk in October on the grounds of criticism voiced by the Secretary General of the Labour Party, Hasan Basri Özbey. The ideas conveyed in the broadcast on 10 August were seen as a breach of the broadcasting standards as defined in Article 4 of Law No. 3984 on the Establishment of Radio and Television Enterprises and Their Broadcasts, namely as a violation of the "compliance with the supremacy of the law".

RTÜK issued a reprimand to NTV for alleged "surreptitious advertising" on the program "Taste on my palate" broadcasted on 2 October 2010. RTUK claims a violation of Article 21/5 of Law No. 3984 on the Establishment of Radio and Television Enterprises and Their Broadcasts ordering that "Surreptitious advertising shall not be allowed in any broadcast". The fine was issued to the NTV Radio and Television Publishing Company as the broadcaster of the program. RTÜK member Hülya Alp voted against the decision given on 11 November. "There was no advertising for a wine brand name in the program. [The guest] Beyti Güler gave examples of local names of wines that suit meat dishes", Alp criticized. Restaurant owner Beyti Güler said in an interview with gourmet Vedat Milor, "The wines made mainly from the Nebiole grape variety and from our Boğazkarası grapes are of good quality in my opinion". Alp pointed out that these words did not justify a warning.

The Turkish news channel CNN Türk received a warning from the Radio Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) on the grounds of broadcasting criticism voiced by Hasan Basri Özbey, Secretary General of the Labour Party. The International Press Institute (IPI) National Committee strongly disagreed with the fine and described CNN Türk as an unbiased news channel that did nothing else but conveying criticism within the framework of a pluralistic publishing policy. "RTÜK chose one of these opinions to penalize by equating the critic with the broadcaster", IPI said. Özbey had criticized the past policies of President Abdullah Gül and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the course of the program "Ne oluyor" ('What's happening'). RTÜK evaluated the program and concluded that "the criticism was a personal attack beyond the limits of moral identity" and decided to sanction the channel. RTÜK member Hülya Alp attached an annotation to the decision saying that Özbey's criticism did not contain an insult. She claimed that it remained within the borders of freedom of expression. Alp announced that "Özbey is responsible for the opinions". Özbey had said on the program, "Somebody living in Çankaya [President Gül] made a contract with Powell to the disadvantage of Turkey".

On 7 September, RTÜK imposed an administrative fine on Kanal D on the grounds of the Main News Bulletin broadcasted on 7 July. The fine was based on Law No. 3984 as amended by Law No. 4756 (Establishment of Radio and Television Enterprises and their Broadcasts). The principles defined in Article 4 paragraph (z) were allegedly repeatedly violated. The law stipulates, "Programs, which could impair the physical, mental, and moral development of young people and children shall not be broadcast within the time intervals that they may be viewing". RTÜK member Mehmet Dadak claimed that the two-minute news item showed blurred pictures and did not feature any pictures of blood. Esat Çıplak argued, "Encouragement to violence and its publication is inexcusable and not to be shown, regardless of the images. The news has also to be considered according to Article 4(b) of Law No. 3984". Çıplak demanded to fine the television channel for a different reason. RTÜK member Hülya Alp abstained from voting.

On 29 July, RTÜK issued a warning to Marmaris Sun TV broadcasting in Muğla (south-western Turkey) for a News Bulletin from 4 April. The warning stemmed from an alleged violation of Article 4 (k) of Law No. 3984 anticipating, "Broadcasts shall not present or declare no one as guilty unless there is a court decision; any program item that leads people to commit a crime or raise the feeling of fear shall not be broadcast". RTÜK member and lawyer Mehmet Dadak voted against the decision.

On 20 July, RTÜK demanded a defence from Show TV regarding two episodes of the series "Made in Turkey" broadcasted on 7 and 14 June. Reason for the defence is the alleged faulty use of the Turkish language. The defence had to be submitted within 15 days and referred to the characters "Abiye" and "Erman Kuzu". RTÜK was going suspend the series from broadcasting in case the defence would not be found convincing. The procedure was based on Article 4 (z) of Law No. 4756 on the "Establishment of Radio and Television Enterprises and their Broadcasts". The article regulates, "Programmes, which could impair the physical, mental, and moral development of young people and children shall not be broadcast within the time intervals that they may be viewing". RTÜK claimed that the TV channel violated this principle for the second time.

Also on 20 July, RTÜK suspended the news program "Analysis" of ETV in Edirne (north-western Turkey) because of the broadcasts on 31 May and 7 June. The punishment was decided according to Article 4(i) of Law No. 3984 as amended by Law No. 4756: "Broadcasts shall not offend the personality of individuals beyond the limits of criticism, shall respect the right of reply and rectification; the news, which the investigation of their accuracy is possible within the framework of code of conduct of media, shall not be broadcast without proper investigation or without being sure of their truthfulness (...)". RTÜK member Hülya Alp opposed the decision. She argued, "The Edirne Public Chief Prosecution dealt with this matter as well. Additionally, some information and documents were obtained on the procedures related to the matter carried out by the Edirne National Estate Directorate and the municipality. It would be unnatural if a journalist would not give a meaning to this information and the documents".

RTÜK decided to impose a broadcasting ban on the Turkish television station Haber Türk on the grounds of writer Sevan Nişanyan's thoughts on the "Armenian genocide". Nişanyan was a guest at the program "One to one" hosted by Fatih Altaylı and had referred to the killing of a huge number of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire in 1915. RTÜK took the decision on 16 June and notified Haber Türk on 21 June. The Council indicated that Nişanyan, one of several guests in the program, "exceeded the limits of criticism" with his statements that allegedly "humiliated the Republic of Turkey". RTÜK suspended the broadcast of one program of "One to one". RSF criticised the procedures of RTÜK in an announcement.

RTÜK issued a warning to Kanal D by reason of an episode of the series "Lady's farm" broadcasted on 19 March 2010. The character "Güllü", featured by actress Özgü Namal, cursed her father and older brother in the episode on subject. According to RTÜK, the broadcast was "opposing national and moral values of society and the structure of the Turkish family".

On 16 June, RTÜK imposed a monetary fine to Show TV on the grounds of alleged "encouragement to hatred via a broadcast". The program on subject was aired on 15 February and showed clashes in the course of demonstrations in several provinces. By majority vote, RTÜK decided for a violation due to "encouragement to resort to violence" and "racism". RTÜK member and lawyer Mehmet Dayak did not support the decision. Dadak said that the topic of the news was of public benefit. He demanded to review the principle of "proportionality" in case the penalty should be given.

Based on Law No. 4207 on Preventing the Hazards of Tobacco Products, RTÜK is determined to ban any pictures of cigarette consumption from television. The Ankara 4^th Magistrate Criminal Court decided that programs produced before the law was enforced should not be sanctioned. On 4 April it turned out that RTÜK filed an appeal against this decision. RTÜK wants the Court of Appeals to reverse the judgement for the public interest and stated that there were "no exceptions regarding the date of production of the program". Protest was voiced against the ban of cigarette pictures. People criticized that 'classic' productions were distorted because even then any pictures of cigarettes were blurred.

On 30 March, RTÜK imposed monetary fines of € 25,000 (TL 50,000) each to the channel Goldmax because of the movie "The Blues Brothers", to Moviemax 2 on the grounds of the movie "Getting Even" and to Actionmax for the film "48 Hours" by reason of displaying images of cigarettes. The decision was based on a violation of Law No. 4207 on Preventing the Hazards of Tobacco Products.

On 9 February, RTÜK decided for administrative monetary fines on the grounds of "not concealing the display of cigarettes" for Movimax (€ 75,000/TL 150,000 in total for three broadcasts), TL 50,000 (€ 25,000) each for Goldmax, Mymax, Kanal D, 24, CNBC-e, E2 and Yeşilcam TV and TL 1,000 (€ 500) each for Antep Mega TV and Kay TV.

RTÜK issued a warning to Habertürk TV on 4 February because of the program "Hülya Avşar asks". The program discussed problems in marriage and infidelity. According to RTÜK, the broadcast "damaged the physical, mental and moral development of juveniles and children". RTÜK dismissed the request by RTÜK member İlhan Yerlikaya to issue a punishment to Avşar because of the "public moral" on the grounds of her programs broadcasted on 22 November and 6 December 2009. Yerlikaya and his lawyer Mehmet Dadak referred to Law No. 3984article 4/1. The decision was taken by majority vote.

On 28 January, RTÜK issued a warning penalty to the private Turkish television channel TV8 by reason of broadcasting criticism voiced by Independent Tunceli MP Kamer Genç on Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Deputy PM and State Minister Cemil Çiçek. RTÜK announced that they do not declare anybody guilty before a definite judicial decision. Genç was a guest in a program called "Let's talk about it" broadcasted on 19 November 2009. Genç had claimed that Cemil Çiçek's son in law and the son of the Prime Minister were involved in corruption related to TOKİ (Public Housing Administration) and bank credits. Genç had also mentioned the Light House Investigation. RTÜK member Mehmet Dadak opposed the decision taken by the council on 28 January and referred to a dissenting opinion represented by the case law of the ECHR.

RTÜK demands "Captain Haddock" from the cartoon "Tintin" written by the Belgium artist Gerorge Remi 81 years ago to quit smoking. On 20 January, RTÜK handed down a TL 50,000 (€ 25,000) monetary fine to the TV8 channel for showing the movie on 15 November 2009. The decision was taken by majority. RTÜK member Hülya Alp voted against it and A. Vahap Dareneli abstained from voting. The character of Tintin was created in 1929 and sold 230 million copies in 80 different languages until today. The television channels E2, Actionmax and Flash TV received fines of TL 50,000 each for the same reason.

 

Information: BİA Media Monitoring Desk, Tel. (0212) 251 15 03, Fax. (0212) 251 16 09, E-mail. hukuk@bianet.org