Journalists concerned about mounting pressure on journalism

“One leg of democracy will remain crippled unless the society is freed,” said Engin Köklüçınar, the head of the İstanbul Journalists Association. Arslan was taken into custody by gendarmes in the early hours of Saturday morning in northwestern Bolu province. The gendarmes told the journalist that he has been wanted by police for three months due to an article he wrote on retired Gen. Levent Ersöz, who is currently in jail for suspected membership in Ergenekon, a clandestine criminal organization accused of plotting to overthrow the government. Arslan faces a legal case for violating the confidentiality of the Ergenekon investigation.

Mehmet Altan, a Star daily columnist, said he felt “distressed" when he read about Arslan's detention. “The reasoning for his detention has come as an excuse,” he noted. When Arslan was taken into custody, he was told that a suit was filed against him in February, but that he failed to show up to testify in court. In July, a warrant was issued to bring Arslan to testify in court by police force. The journalist, however, reportedly did not receive any court notice.

“I host a TV program five days a week and write columns for my daily three days a week. I cannot understand how I have been wanted [by the police] for three months,” he said.

The Contemporary Journalists Association (ÇGD) denounced Arslan's detention and complained that a press ban on the Ergenekon case is applied to a certain group of journalists.

“Our association believes that it is wrong to make journalists pay the price for the weakness of state agencies. We denounce the treatment against Arslan,” noted Ahmet Abakay, the head of the association.

Legal action continues to be taken against newspapers and journalists for covering the Ergenekon case in accordance with Turkish Penal Code (TCK) Article 285, which criminalizes the “violation of confidentiality,” and Article 288, which criminalizes “influencing the independence of the judiciary.” Thousands of such cases have been filed by prosecutors against various media organizations.

Journalists also complained that they are afraid of putting their names on the articles they write on the Ergenekon probe. “We are weary of legal action against our articles. Prosecutors file cases against almost every article which includes the word Ergenekon,” they said.

According to Güngör Ergün, the Bugün daily's news manager, journalists should be free to write about any detail of the historic probe. “Much responsibility falls on the shoulders of journalists. However, they are made to pay a heavy price for their profession. Cases opened against Ergenekon reports have reached a level which threatens freedom of the press in the country. Prosecutors need to be more prudent with respect to the Ergenekon case,” he said.

The Ergenekon trial, one of the most important in Turkey to date, has been going on since 2007. Prosecutors have so far launched 2,400 investigations against newspapers and journalists on the grounds that their reports violated “confidentiality” and threatened to influence the independence of the judiciary. Among those members of the press, 11 are managing editors, 28 are columnists, 167 are correspondents and the rest are other employees at newspapers. The most charges have been filed against the Taraf, Star and Zaman dailies.

Abdülkadir Selvi, the Ankara representative of the Yeni Şafak daily, said the cases are aimed at “intimidating” and “silencing” journalists. “We are sometimes tried by a court whose prosecutors and judges filed the criminal complaint against us. I see all those cases as a campaign to intimidate journalists,” he remarked.

The Taraf daily's Mehmet Baransu, who is under investigation in 26 cases, agreed and said he wondered how a journalist's report could aim to influence the conduct of an ongoing probe.

 “The wife of the Constitutional Court vice president [Osman Paksüt] is being tried and the two go to the court together [to give testimony.] This situation is not considered to be aimed at influencing the conduct of the case, but my reports are considered as such. No one can say anything against them because they are protected by the law. But who will protect me?” asked the journalist.