Meanwhile, it is reported that the relatives of Milly Dowler and other victims whose phone calls had been hacked by The Sun newspaper are preparing to take their legal battle to the United States.
This implies that legal action may be brought against News Corp on charges of violating US laws prohibiting bribery in foreign countries, potentially leading to millions of dollars in compensation being paid to the victims and even the imprisonment of newspaper executives.
Thus, the world’s biggest news organization is facing a great threat to its existence due to fines and sentences. But no institution, civil society organization, political party executive or opinion leader claims that this operation against the world’s biggest press organization is a clear violation of the freedom of the press.
This is because there is a very strong indication that News Corp newspapers did breach people’s privacy, exert pressure on politicians and bribe police officers. Moreover, prosecutors are sure that the group directly targets politicians and individuals who act in contravention to the group’s interests.
Because these acts are defined as offenses by law, they know that the fact that the suspects are journalists does not save them from being called to account in court. From this perspective, it is no less an offense to try to pave the way for a coup, run headlines provoking the army to take action, make opponents the targets of shady networks by publishing news stories about them or to write books in cooperation with police chiefs to influence or discredit ongoing trials or investigations.
Our generation of journalists, those aged 50 and above, know well what it means to perform journalistic duties in times of coups and under the threat of death.
Therefore, our generation believes that it is a major step for democracy and the rule of law to try the people who collaborated with coup generals.
We also know that since the start of the case against Ergenekon -- a clandestine organization nested within the state that is trying to overthrow or manipulate the democratically elected government -- a certain media group has been trying to market this case as a threat to press freedom in Turkey.
Though the act of informing the public and inspecting the government may not be sacred, journalism is a profession that is of critical importance to the democratic system. Other professionals, such as physicians, soldiers, lawyers and academics, are important and precious as well. Therefore, the importance of journalists does not give them the right to disregard the law.
No country in the world would grant them such a right. The latest wave of arrests of The Sun employees is proof of this. Moreover, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) decision that found journalist Tuncay Özkan’s application to be unjustified is further proof.
This is not to say that Turkey is a rosy country in terms of freedom of thought and expression. It also does not mean that the press is freely performing its duties in this country. But it certainly shows that the Ergenekon network is very skillful at influencing the international community.
