Six journalists handed jail terms, one attacked by mob, one killed because of 'Covid comments'

Still image from footage showing the person who killed journalist Hazım Göksu.

Six journalists received prison sentences on various charges, one journalist was attacked by a mob of two dozen people, and one was killed because of his commentary on the coronavirus pandemic in between March 8 and 21, according to bianet's Media Monitoring Database.

Four journalists who stood trial for offenses related to "terrorism" were acquitted in the same period.

Also, access to news articles about alleged sexual harassment by an academic at Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University was blocked by a court.

Here is a summary of interferences with press freedom in the two-week period:

Prison sentences for six journalists

Disclosure of confidential information

Two journalists and a military officer received prison sentences on March 8 for obtaining and disclosing "confidential information" in a case concerning the officer's phone conversations with the journalists.

Müyesser Yıldız, the news manager at Odatv news site's Ankara office, has been sentenced to 1 year, 1 month and 10 days in prison for "obtaining confidential information" and to 2 years and 6 months in prison for "disclosing confidential information."

She had been remanded in custody for 155 days until her release after the hearing on November 9.

İsmail Dükel, the Ankara representative of TELE1 TV has been sentenced to 1 year and 15 days and Noncommissioned Officer Erdal Baran has been sentenced to 7 years and 6 months in prison for "obtaining confidential information."

The court deferred the sentences of Yıldız and Dükel and ruled that Baran, who had been remanded in custody, should be released.

"Terrorist propaganda"

Süleyman Acar and Serpil Ünal, an editor and a reporter at Mücadele Birliği magazine and Songül Yücel, an editor at Önsöz Magazine, were were taken into custody on 24 March 2018 during a police raid.

They were charged with "propagandizing for a terrorist organization" because of their social media posts about Turkey's military operation in Syria's mostly Kurdish-populated Afrin town in early 2018.

They were sentenced to 1 year, 6 months and 22 days in prison for the charged offense on March 9.

Disrespecting religion

Journalist Hakan Aygün was sentenced to 7 months and 15 days in prison on March 16 because of a tweet about the coronavirus fundraising campaign launched by President and Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in March 2020.

After Erdoğan had asked citizens to put money into a bank account, giving an international bank account number (IBAN), a tweet was posted from Aygün's account, making a wordplay with IBAN and "iman," which means "faith" in Turkish and mostly used in a religious context. The tweet referred to an imaginary "IBAN section" of the Quran, saying that those who "IBAN" and those who "don't IBAN" would be "separated in the afterlife."

Insulting the president

Journalist Ali Ergin Demirhan, an editor at sendika.org news portal, was sentenced to pay a judicial fine of 7,000 lira on the charge "insulting the president" on March 17. He was initially put on trial for "terrorist propaganda" because of his tweets about the Afrin operation but was acquitted of that charge.

Acquitted journalists

• Seyhan Avşar, a reporter for Cumhuriyet, and Necdet Önemli, Sözcü website's managing editor responsible for legal affairs, were charged with "disclosing the identities of public officials who took part in the fight against terrorism" because of a news article.

The article in question revealed that the prosecutor of a case against Sözcü had a previous conviction. It was first published by Cumhuriyet and then on Sözcü's website.

Concluding that the elements of the crime did not occur, the court acquitted both journalists.

• Journalist Arif Aslan, who was remanded in custody for "membership of a terrorist organization" and served eight months behind bars in 2017, was acquitted of charges on March 17.

• Barış Barıştıran, the former managing editor Özgür Gün TV, a local broadcaster that was shut down by a statutory decree following the 2016 coup attempt, stood trial for "terrorist propaganda" because the general assembly of the Democratic Society Congress (DTK), an NGO focused on the Kurdish issue, was aired live. He was acquitted at the eighth hearing on March 16.

Attacks on journalists

Hazım Özsu, a local radio presenter in the northwestern province of Bursa, was shot dead by an assailant who came to his home on March 9.

Escaping the scene of incident, the assailant changed several vehicles and footage from 332 security cameras was examined to identify him, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

Taken into custody on March 16, the assailant said he killed the journalist because he "didn't like" his comments about the coronavirus pandemic.

The Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the Journalists' Union of Turkey (TGS) condemned the killing, saying that assailants are encouraged by impunity.

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At least nine journalists have been attacked so far this year in Turkey.

Journalist Levent Gültekin was on March 8 attacked by a group of about two dozen people in Bakırköy, İstanbul. The attack happened when he was heading to the office of Halk TV, where he hosts a program.

The attack came after his criticism of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), an ally of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

The previous attacks that took place this year:

* Ferruh Varanoğlu: Columnist. He was shot in his foot in an armed attack carried out by an unidentified person. (February 16, Bursa)

*Osman Güdü: The journalist who prepares and hosts the "City and Life" program on KRT TV was attacked with sticks in front of his office in Kartal. (February 4, İstanbul)

*İzzet Tınmaz: The grant holder of İlk Havadis (First News) and news coordinator of Anadolu'nun Sesi (Voice of Anatolia). Two people stopped his car on his way to work and beat him with sticks. (January 9, Aksaray)

*Kıymet Sarıyıldız and Murat Uçkaç: Hedef (Target) newspaper and İhlas News Agency (İHA) reporters. They were battered by the relatives of a suspect arrested for drug dealing while he was taken from the courthouse. (January 13, Aydın)

*Afşin Hatipoğlu: KRT TV program presenter. He was attacked by a group of unidentified persons wearing masks in front of his house. (January 14)

*Orhan Uğuroğlu: Ankara representative of Yeniçağ newspaper. While he was about to get in his car in the morning, four people attacked him with sticks. He was wounded in his arm. (January 15, Ankara)

Censorship

A judgeship has blocked news articles on three websites about the incident of alleged sexual assault at Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University in Rize, the president's hometown.

According to the reports, an academic was appointed as the head of a department at the university despite having a complaint against him for sexual assault.

Public ad ban

A complaint was filed to the Press Advertising Agency (BİK) about a news report published by daily BirGün on January 17. The report said that Abdulaziz Velioğlu, an executive at the Wushu Federation of Turkey, served time in prison on Hezbollah-related charges. The BİK cut the public ads of BirGün newspaper for two days over the report titled "Wushu Federation's official Velioğlu served time in prison on Hezbollah: The sports organization of reactionarism."

(VK)