Journalists in State of Emergency – 70

On 29 June, an indictment into BirGün employee Mahir Kanaat, Dicle News Agency (DİHA) News Editor Ömer Çelik, former Diken editor Tunca Öğreten, DİHA reporter Metin Yoksu, ETHA Managing Editor Derya Okatan and owner of the copyrights to Yolculuk newspaper Eray Saygın, was submitted to a court.
 
According to BirGün’s report, the indictment was submitted to the İstanbul 29th High Criminal Court. Ali Deniz Ceylan, a lawyer representing BirGün’s Kanaat said they didn’t have detailed information about the content of the indictment. He said detailed information would be available once the indictment is accepted by the court.
 
The six journalists were taken into police custody on Dec. 25, 2016 on charges of reporting on e-mails of Turkish Energy Minister Berat Albayrak which were hacked by a group that calls itself RedHack and as such being a part of a “psychological operation to form public perceptions” by RedHack. Yoksun, Okatan and Sezgin were released after 24 days in custody while Kanaat, Çelik and Öğreten were put under formal arrest.
 
The case of a seventh journalist, Deniz Yücel from Die Welt, who was also taken into custody initially as part of the same investigation was separated from the RedHack investigation. Yücel is now facing charges of “conducting terrorist propaganda” and “inciting the public to hatred and hostility,” although no indictment has so far been prepared for the journalist who has been behind bars since Feb. 27, 2017.
 
BBC reporter deported at İstanbul Airport
 
Jiyar Gol, a reporter for BBC World, tweeted on June 30 that he had been deported from Istanbul Airport after five hours in custody. According to the tweet, Gol was detained and later expelled from the country on June 29. Gol said he was interrogated by police while he was kept in custody.
 
Higher court upholds prison term for journalist Eskin
 
A Gaziantep court on June 29 upheld a three-years, one-month and 15-days prison sentence handed down to journalist İsmail Eskin due to his social media posts.
 
The Diyarbakır 4th High Criminal Court had handed down the prison sentence for “conducting propaganda on behalf of a terrorist organization” in his statements tweeted during a curfew announced in the predominantly Kurdish populated Diyarbakır province and also during ISIS attacks on the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobane.
 
The Regional Court, which was reviewing an appeal against the ruling upheld the Diyabakır court’s decision, said no violations of law had occurred.
 
Columnist leaves pro-government newspaper over “censorship”
 
Lütfü Oflaz, a columnist with the daily Star newspaper, which is aligned with the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government, announced on June 29 that he had left his newspaper after editors refused to publish one of his columns.
 
Oflaz, who had been with the daily for over a year, said he had taken the decision to leave after the newspaper refused to publish his latest column titled “My conscience hasn’t left me.”
 
The article criticized the crackdown on journalists and the media. In the column, Oflaz wrote, “I am disturbed by the fact that many of my colleagues that I’ve known as journalists from Murat Sabuncu to Turhan Günay, from Musa Kart to Kadri Gürsel. I am disturbed by the pressure on the media from the Cumhuriyet newspaper to Sözcü.”
 
Oflaz later said in an interview with Editor-in-Chief of the Yeni Asya daily that a second column he had written to formally address his readers about his parting had also been censored.
 
Jagland: Jailed journalists and MPs are CoE priority
 
Thorbjørn Jagland, the secretary-general of the Council of Europe, said in reference to the arrests in Turkey that journalists and members of the Parliament are priority groups for the Council of Europe.
 
Jagland’s remarks came in response to a question by pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) deputy Chairperson Filiz Kerestecioğlu. Kerestecioğlu asked Jagland on the first day of the Parliamentarian Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Summer Session on June 28 if any steps were taken concerning the jailed members of the Turkish Parliament.
 
In response, Jagland said: “We are aware that there have been many appeals to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) on this first issue. The court has launched initiatives for the journalists. Of course, I can’t speak about the legal procedure for the deputies, but members of parliament and journalists are priority groups for the Council of Europe.”
 
Turhan Günay nominated for IPA Prix Voltaire award
 
On June 28, the International Publishers Association announced the shortlist for the 2017 IPA Prix Voltaire award, which “rewards exemplary courage in upholding the freedom to publish and in enabling others to exercise their right to freedom of expression,” according to IPA.
 
Among the shortlisted are jailed Cumhuriyet journalist Turhan Günay — who was imprisoned in November 2016 — and the Evrensel Publishing House, which was shut down by a government decree.
 
Others on the shortlist are: Minhai, Gui (Sweden) Kim, Jeong-ae (North Korea / South Korea)
Parsapour, Azadeh (Iran / UK) and Way, Moe (Myanmar).
 
The prize winner will be announced on Sept. 29, 2017 in Sweden.
 
List of journalists behind bars pending trials or serving a conviction
1          Abdulkadir Turay, DİHA reporter
2          Abdullah Kılıç, Habertürk
3          Zehra Doğan, Jinha
4          Abdullah Özyurt, Zaman reporter
5          Abdulvahap İş (Freelance journalist)
6          Abdürrahim Ersöz, Antalya
7          Ahmet Altan
8          Ahmet Memiş, Gazeteci, Haberdar news website
9          Ahmet Metin Sekizkardeş, Zaman journalist
10        Ahmet Şık, Cumhuriyet reporter
11        Ahmet Turan Alkan, Zaman
12        Ahmet Yavaş, TRT (Erzurum)
13        Akın Atalay, Pres. of Cumhuriyet Foundation Executive Board
14        Alaattin Güner, Cihan media director
15        Ali Ahmet Böken, TRT News coordinator
16        Ali Aşikar – Azadiya Welat
17        Ali Babür Boysal, Zaman page designer
18        Ali Bulaç, Eski Zaman columnist
19        Ali Konar, Azadiya Welat bureau chief
20        Ali Ünal, Zaman columnist
21        Ali Yüce, TRT Radio broadcasts chief
22        Arafat Dayan, Demokratik Ulus
23        Aslı Ceren Aslan, Özgür Gelecek
24        Atilla Taş, Meydan columnist
25        Ayhan Demir, Çaldıran News Agency
26        Ayşe Nazlı Ilıcak
27        Ayşenur Parıldak, Zaman, Haberdar
28        Aytekin Gezici, journalist/writer
29        Aziz İstegün, Diyarbakır Zaman representative
30        Bayram Kaya, Zaman reporter
31        Beytullah Özdemir, Zaman Düzce bureau chief
32        Burçin Dokgöz, former Zaman and Çorum reporter
33        Bülent Utku, Cumhuriyet Foundation board member
34        Bünyamin Köseli, Aksiyon magazine reporter
35        Cebrail Parıltı, Anadolu Ajansı (AA) Derik reporter
36        Cemal Azmi Kalyoncu, Journalists and Writers’ Foundation
37        Ceren Taşkın, Hatay'ın Sesi
38        Cihan Acar, Bugün reporter
39        Cuma Kaya, Zaman
40        Cuma Ulus, Millet newspaper’s publications coordinator
41        Deniz Yücel, Die Welt
42        Emin Demir, Freelancer
43        Emre Soncan, Zaman defense reporter
44        Ercan Gün, Fox TV
45        Erdal Süsem, Eylül magazine editor
46        Erdal Şen, former Meydan managing editor
47        Erol Yüksel (TRT News Department vice president))
48        Erol Zavar, Odak magazine, owner and newsroom director
49        Fahrettin Kılıç, Özgür Toplum
50        Faruk Akkan, Cihan news agency
51        Ferhat Çiftçi, Azadiya Welat Gaziantep bureau chief
52        Fevzi Yazıcı
53        Gökçe Fırat Çulhaoğlu, Türksolu columnist
54        Gökmen Ulu, Sözcü
55        Gurbet Çakar, Hevi women’s magazine
56        Gültekin Avcı
57        Güray Tekin Öz, columnist
58        Habip Güler, Zaman reporter
59        Hakan Aksel, TRT producer-director
60        Hakan Ergün, Azadiya Welat and Özgür Gündem distributor
61        Hakan Karasinir, columnist
62        Hakan Taşdelen
63        Halil İbrahim Mert, TRT (Erzurum)
64        Hamit Dilbahar, Azadiya Welat columnist
65        Hamza Günerigök, TRT
66        Hanım Büşra Erdal, Zaman reporter and columnist
67        Hasan Duman, Özgürlükçü Demokrasi distributor
68        Haşim Söylemez, Aksiyon columnist
69        Hatice Duman, Atılım newspaper’s owner and managing editor
70        Hayati Yıldız, Azadiya Welat
71        Hidayet Karaca, Samanyolu Media Group President
72        Hülya Karakaya, Özgür Halk Managing Editor
73        Hüseyin Aydın, Cihan reporter
74        Hüseyin Turan, Zaman columnist
75        İbrahim Balta, Zaman business editor
76        İbrahim Kareyeğen, responsible editor for Zaman
77        İdris Okur, Cihan New Agency Çorum reporter
78        İdris Sayılgan, DİHA
79        İlker İlkan, Azadiya Welat
80        İnan Kızılkaya, Özgür Gündem Newsroom Editor
81        İsa Siyi, Haberdar
82        İsmail Avcı, Zaman
83        İsmail Efe, local press advisor in İzmir
84        Kadri Gürsel, Editorial Advisor
85        Kamuran Sunbat, DİHA Çukurova reporter (formerly)
86        Kazım Kızıl, Kamera Sokak
87        Kemal Sancılı, Özgür Gündem copyrights holder
88        Kenan Karavil, Radyo Dünya editor-in-chief
89        Lokman Erdoğan, Çorum Manşet, owner
90        Mahir Kanaat, BirGün, head of accountingn
91        Mediha Olgun, Sözcü
92        Mehmet Altan
93        Mehmet Baransu, Taraf columnist/reporter
94        Mehmet Dener, Şanlıurfa.com editor-in-chief
95        Mehmet Güleş, DİHA
96        Mehmet Kuru, Zaman Eskişehir reporter
97        Mehmet Özdemir, Zaman columnist
98        Meltem Oktay, DİHA reporter
99        Meşale Tolu, ETHA translater
100      Mikail Barut, Özgür Halk former editor
101      Miktat Algül, Mezitli FM General Publications Coordinator
102      Mizgin Çay – Radyo Karacadağ
103      Muhammet Taşçılar, Şanlıurfa.com editor-in-chief
104      Murat Aksoy,former Yeni Şafak columnist
105      Murat Avcıoğlu, Zaman
106      Murat Çapan,
107      Murat Dağdeviren (Demokrat Gebze owner)
108      Murat Sabuncu, Editor-in- Chief
109      Musa Kart, Cartoonist
110      Mustafa Erkan Acar, Bugün news editor,
111      Mustafa Gök, Ankara bureau chief for Ekmek ve Adalet magazine
112      Mustafa Kemal Güngör, Cumhuriyet Foundation board member
113      Mustafa Ünal, Zaman
114      Mutlu Çölgeçen, Millet, newsroom coordinator
115      Mümtazer Türköne, Zaman columnist
116      Nadir Yücel, Çorum Yıldız (local) Editor-in-Chief
117      Nedim Türfent,DİHA
118      Nizamettin İzgi (Batman Newspaper’s owner)
119      Nur Ener, Yeni Asya
120      Nuri Durna, TRT
121      Nuri Yeşil, Azadiya Welat Dersim bureau chief
122      Nurullah Kaya, G.antep Zaman representative
123      Oğuz Usluer, Habertürk former broadcasts coordinator
124      Osman Yakut, Zaman Antalya
125      Ozan Kaplanoğlu, Bursa Muhalif
126      Ömer Çelik, DİHA news manager
127      Ömer Oruç, Cihan newspaper
128      Ömer Özdemir, Antalya eski Zaman muhabiri
129      Önder Çelik, Cumhuriyet Foundation board member
130      Özcan Keser (TRT reporter)
131      Rabia Özkaya, Özgür Halk
132      Ramazan Alkan, Yeni Akit reporter
133      Resul Cengiz, Denizli reporter with Zaman
134      Sadık Demir – Radyo Karacadağ
135      Salih Erbekler – Radyo Karacadağ
136      Sami Tunca, Mücadele Birliği magazine Managing Editor
137      Selman Keleş, DİHA
138      Serhat Şeftali, Zaman regional bureau chief for the Med region
139      Serkan Aydemir, Bitlis Aktüel reporter
140      Seyid Kılıç, TRT News
141      Seyithan Akyüz, Azadiya Welat Adana bureau chief
142      Sezgin Kartal, Sosyalist Dayanımşa magazine
143      Şahabettin Demir, DİHA reporter
144      Şahin Alpay, Zaman columnist
145      Şeref Yılmaz, Irmak TV
146      Şerife Oruç, DİHA reporter
147      Şirin Çoban, Azadiya Welat
148      Tahsin Kürklü, Zaman – head of Logistics Department
149      Togay Okay, Özgür Gelecek
150      Tunca Öğreten, former Diken editor
151      Tuncer Çetinkaya, Zaman Antalya
152      Turhan Günay, Chief Editor of Cumhuriyet supplement
153      Ufuk Şanlı, former Vatan columnist
154      Ulaş Sezgin, ETHA reporter
155      Ünal Tanık, Rota Haber editor-in-chief
156      Vahit Yazgan, İzmir Zaman bureau chief
157      Vedat Beki, Sözcü 18
158      Vedat Demir, former Yarına Bakış writer
159      Yakup Çetin, Zaman reporter
160      Yakup Şimşek, Zaman, marketing director
161      Yalçın Güler, TRT (Erzurum)
162      Yener Dönmez, Habervaktim news website
163      Yetkin Yıldız, Aktif Haber website editor
164      Yılmaz Kahraman, Özgür Halk editor
165      Zafer Özsoy
166      Ziya Ataman, DİHA reporter