Journalist Şık Absent at Court - Transportation Mishap at Prison

On Thursday (14 April) the Kadıköy (Istanbul) 2^nd Criminal Court of First Instance held a hearing of the trial regarding the books "Understanding the counter guerrilla and Ergenekon" and "Who is who in Ergenekon"written by arrested journalists Ahmet Şık and Ertuğrul Mavioğlu. Şık, detained in the scope of the Ergenekon investigation, was not brought to court. The trial was adjourned to 13 May.

The two volumes deal with the clandestine ultra-national Ergenekon organisation nested within the state and the military. The organization is said to have planned to create chaos in the country with murders and attacks with the ultimate aim to overthrow the government.

It had been announced prior to the hearing that Şık, detained in the Silivri Prison on the western outskirts of Istanbul, was going to be brought to the courthouse on the Asian side of the city. However, according to the statement of Şık's brother Bülent Şık, the defendant was not taken to court because apparently there was no suitable vehicle available at prison. A large group of people who came to the hearing to support the journalist protested the decision.

The judge decided to send a letter to the Silivri Prison because Şık was not brought to the hearing and requested to let him attend the coming hearing. Due to Şık's absence, any decisions were left to the hearing on 13 May.

Journalists Şık and Mavioğlu are facing prison terms of up to 4.5 years each on charges of "violating the confidentiality of an investigation" by publishing the two books.

"We will touch even if we get burned"

The hearing was held in the early afternoon and took two hours. Colleagues of the journalists gathered in Kadıköy one and a half hours prior to the start of the hearing. With the slogan "Freedom for Ahmet Şık and Nedim Şener", a journalist arrested together with Şık on 6 March, the journalists walked up to the Kadıköy Courthouse.

The demonstrators carried candles and torches as symbols for their pursuit of justice and their demand to bring the truth to light.

Journalist and writer Can Dündar read out a declaration on behalf of the journalists. He said that they were living an in a country that claimed to be an "advanced democracy". At the same time, he pointed to 57 journalists currently being imprisoned and more than 4,000 trials pending against journalists.

Dündar put forward that Şık and Mavioğlu were being prosecuted by reason of their books on the counter guerrilla and Ergenekon. He underlined their support for Mavioğlu and reminded the fact that Şık was being imprisoned since 6 March under allegations of "membership in the Ergenekon investigation that was deciphered in these books", Dündar argued.

Dündar emphasized that also journalist Nedim Şener was still in detention. He criticized that no evidence has been shown yet even though the prosecutor's office claimed "to have evidence at hand".

Dündar voiced the journalists' demand to shed light on the truth and their expectation to prosecute the real perpetrators for the real crimes. He conveyed the demand for a justice that is equally applied to everybody and said, "Even if we get burned we will still touch [certain issues]".

The demonstration was attended by the President of the Turkish Journalists Union (TGS), Ercan İpekçi, the Secretary General of the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions (DİSK), Tayfun Görgülü, colleagues of journalists Şık and Mavioğlu and other supporters. (AS/VK)