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Journalists face trial over book on Ergenekon case
The indictment claims the two journalists violated a gag order issued by the İstanbul 13th High Criminal Court in July 2008. The investigation was launched after the police force filed a complaint against them.
“Indictments are supposed to say that on this page of the book, by writing this and that, you violated these rules, but our indictment does not point to any specific part of the book,” Şık told Today’s Zaman. Mavioğlu added that although the combined length of both volumes is 1,128 pages, the investigation into them was initiated on the very same day their book was published.
“The reading speed of the public prosecutors really surprised us, and I asked them to teach me how to read that fast,” Mavioğlu told Today’s Zaman.
Mavioğlu added that after he testified to the public prosecutors he checked to find out if he was facing any other charges because he had written many stories about the Ergenekon case. He found out that he has four other court cases against him, one of which had the first hearing without his knowledge because he had not been informed about it.
“I think there are more than 3,000 cases against journalists due to their articles about Ergenekon, but only a few of them are aware of it,” he said.
Both Mavioğlu and Şık underlined that the Ergenekon case had created a polarization in society and in the media. On the one side are presented the defenders of Ergenekon, who strongly believe that everybody is innocent, and on the other side are presented the defenders of the government, but according to them, both perceptions are wrong.
“We tried to explain the Ergenekon case, but we were critical of both sides. We definitely want further democratization and for the deep state to be completely cleared out.”
Mavioğlu underlined that their book aims to help in eliminating the confusion surrounding the Ergenekon case, and Şık added that they needed to write this book because the media had made mistakes in its reporting.
Mavioğlu and Şık will face their first trials on Oct. 8 at the Kadıköy 2nd Penal Court.
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