Journalists in State of Emergency -90

 
 
The trial of 30 defendants, including journalists Şahin Alpay, Ali Bulaç and Ahmet Turan Alkan where they stand accused of having supported the failed of July 15 will commence September 18 at the courtroom inside Silivri Prison.
 
Twenty one of the defendants to appear in court on Monday have been imprisoned for more than a year. Those under arrest are Ahmet Metin Sekizkardeş, Ahmet Turan Alkan, Alaattin Güner, Ali Bulaç, Cuma Kaya, Faruk Akkan, Hakan Taşdelen, Hüseyin Belli, Hüseyin Turan, İbrahim Karayeğen, İsmail Küçük, Mehmet Özdemir, Murat Avcıoğlu, Mustafa Ünal, Mümtazer Türköne, Onur Kutlu, Sedat Yetişkin, Şahin Alpay, Şeref Yılmaz, Yüksel Durgut and Zafer Özsoy.
 
Other defendants who were earlier released in the case pending trial are İhsan Duran Dağı, Ahmet İrem, Ali Hüseyinçelebi, Süleyman Sargın, Osman Nuri Arslan, Osman Nuri Öztürk, Lale Sarıibrahimoğlu, Nuriye Akman and Orhan Kemal.
 
The 64-page indictment seeks three consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole and an additional 15 years for the crimes of “attempting to overthrow the constitutional order, attempting to overthrow Parliament or render it unable to perform its duties and attempting to overthrow the government of Turkey or render it unable to perform its duties.”
 
Most of the accused are former employees or writers of the shuttered Zaman daily.
 
Children of Alpay, Alkan and Bulaç have talked to P24 before the start of the trial. Elvan Alpay, Şahin Alpay’s daughter and Talat Alkan, son of Ahmet Turan Alkan, said their fathers have written several books while in prison.
 
Second hearing in the Altans case
 
On September 19, another trial will continue where journalists Ahmet Altan, Mehmet Altan and Nazlı Ilıcak stand accused of participating in the coup along with 14 others.
 
The second hearing in the trial will be heard on Sept. 19 at Istanbul 26th High Criminal Court. The first hearing was heard over a course of five days between the dates June 19 – 23, with the court issuing an interim ruling to keep those under arrest in prison .
 
A total of six defendants are in prison – including the Altan brothers and Ilıcak, and one person is pending trial outside prison. The other suspects are considered to have at large status by the court.
 
The Altan brothers, who have been imprisoned since September 2016 and Nazlı Ilıcak, who has been imprisoned since July 2016 are accused of attempting to “overthrow the constitutional order,” “attempting to overthrow the government of Turkey,” and “attempting overthrow Parliament.” They risk three consecutive life terms for these accusations and an additional prison term of up to 15 years for “committing a crime on behalf of a terrorist organization” without being its member.
 
The Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales (BHRC), which had observed the first trial, released a report on its findings ahead of the second hearing in which it referred to the proceedings as a “show-trial”.
 
French journalist Loup Bureau released
 
On September 15, French journalist Luop Bureau, who was arrested by a Turkish court on July 16, was released from prison . A deportation order was also put in place for the journalist along with his release.
 
He was detained and later arrested on terror related charges upon his return to Turkey from a trip to Arbil, in the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government.
 
 
Evrensel reporter arrested
 
Evrensel Tunceli reporter Kemal Özer, who was detained by police along the Ovacık – Tunceli highway on September 4, was formally arrested on September 15 on charges of membership in a terrorist organization.
 
Bureau’s release and his arrest bring the number of imprisoned journalists in Turkey to 172.
 
Court fines journalist for solidarity with shuttered paper
 
The Istanbul 22th High Criminal Court on September 15 upheld a ruling which issued a TL 7000 fine to journalist Derya Okatan for supporting a solidarity campaign held for the shuttered Özgür Gündem daily.
 
List of journalists currently imprisoned in Turkey
 
            Name, publication
1          Abdulkadir Turay, DİHA reporter
2          Abdullah Kılıç, Habertürk
3          Abdullah Özyurt, Zaman reporter
4          Abdulvahap İş (Freelance journalist)
5          Abdürrahim Ersöz, Antalya
6          Ahmet Altan
7          Ahmet Feyzullah Özyurt
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       Burak Ekici, Birgün
33       Burçin Dokgöz, former Zaman and Çorum reporter
34       Çağdaş Erdoğan, Photojournalist
35       Cebrail Parıltı, Anadolu Ajansı (AA) Derik reporter
36       Cemal Azmi Kalyoncu, Journalists and Writers’ Foundation
37       Ceren Taşkın, Hatay'ın Sesi
38       Cuma Kaya, Zaman
39       Cuma Ulus, Millet newspaper’s publications coordinator
40       Cüneyt Seza Özkan, Samanyolu TV
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       Erdoğan Alayamut, Dihaber reporter
48       Erol Yüksel (TRT News Department vice president))
49       Erol Zavar, Odak magazine, owner and newsroom director
50       Fahrettin Kılıç, Özgür Toplum
51       Faruk Akkan, Cihan news agency
52       Ferhat Çiftçi, Azadiya Welat Gaziantep bureau chief
53       Fevzi Yazıcı
54       Gökçe Fırat Çulhaoğlu, Türksolu columnist
55       Gökmen Ulu, Sözcü
56       Gurbet Çakar, Hevi women’s magazine
57       Gültekin Avcı
58       Habip Güler, Zaman reporter
59       Hakan Aksel, TRT producer-director
60       Hakan Ergün, Azadiya Welat and Özgür Gündem distributor
61       Hakan Taşdelen
62       Halil İbrahim Mert, TRT (Erzurum)
63       Hamit Dilbahar, Azadiya Welat columnist
64       Hamza Günerigök, TRT
65       Hanım Büşra Erdal, Zaman reporter and columnist
66       Hasan Duman, Özgürlükçü Demokrasi distributor
67       Hatice Duman, Atılım newspaper’s owner and managing editor
68       Hayati Yıldız, Azadiya Welat
69       Hidayet Karaca, Samanyolu Media Group President
70       Hülya Karakaya, Özgür Halk Managing Editor
71       Hüseyin Aydın, Cihan reporter
72       Hüseyin Turan, Zaman columnist
73       İbrahim Balta, Zaman business editor
74       İbrahim Kareyeğen, responsible editor for Zaman
75       İdris Okur, Cihan New Agency Çorum reporter
76       İdris Sayılgan, DİHA
77       İlker İlkan, Azadiya Welat
78       İnan Kızılkaya, Özgür Gündem Newsroom Editor
79       İsmail Avcı, Zaman
80       İsmail Efe, local press advisor in İzmir
81       Kadri Gürsel, Editorial Advisor
82       Kamuran Sunbat, DİHA Çukurova reporter (formerly)
83       Kemal Özer, Evrensel
84       Kemal Sancılı, Özgür Gündem copyrights holder
85       Kenan Karavil, Radyo Dünya editor-in-chief
86       Lokman Erdoğan, Çorum Manşet, owner
87       Loup Bureau, freelancer
88       Mahir Kanaat, BirGün, head of accountingn
89       Mediha Olgun, Sözcü
90       Mehmet Ali Aya
91       Mehmet Altan
92       Mehmet Baransu, Taraf columnist/reporter
93       Mehmet Çakmakçı, Medyascope.tv 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       Mehmet Sıddık Damar
99       Meltem Oktay, DİHA reporter
100     Meşale Tolu, ETHA translater
101     Mikail Barut, Özgür Halk former editor
102     Miktat Algül, Mezitli FM General Publications Coordinator
103     Mizgin Çay – Radyo Karacadağ
104     Muhammet Taşçılar, Şanlıurfa.com editor-in-chief
105     Muhsin Pilgir, Zaman and Cihan news agency
106     Murat Aksoy,former Yeni Şafak columnist
107     Murat Avcıoğlu, Zaman
108     Murat Çapan,
109     Murat Çelikkan (Özgür Gündem solidarity trial)
110     Murat Dağdeviren (Demokrat Gebze owner)
111     Murat Sabuncu, Editor-in- Chief
112     Mustafa Erkan Acar, Bugün news editor,
113     Mustafa Gök, Ankara bureau chief for Ekmek ve Adalet magazine
114     Mustafa Ünal, Zaman
115     Mutlu Çölgeçen, Millet, newsroom coordinator
116     Mutlu Özay, Cihan reporter
117     Mümtazer Türköne, Zaman columnist
118     Nadir Yücel, Çorum Yıldız (local) Editor-in-Chief
119     Nedim Türfent,DİHA
120     Nizamettin İzgi (Batman Newspaper’s owner)
121     Nur Ener, Yeni Asya
122     Nuri Durna, TRT
123     Nuri Yeşil, Azadiya Welat Dersim bureau chief
124     Nurullah Kaya, G.antep Zaman representative
125     Oğuz Usluer, Habertürk former broadcasts coordinator
126     Osman Yakut, Zaman Antalya
127     Ömer Çelik, DİHA news manager
128     Ömer Faruk Aydemir, İHA editor
129     Ömer Oruç, Cihan newspaper
130     Ömer Özdemir, Antalya eski Zaman muhabiri
131     Özcan Keser (TRT reporter)
132     Özkan Erdoğan, Özgürlükçü Demokrasi
133     Rabia Özkaya, Özgür Halk
134     Ramazan Alkan, Yeni Akit reporter
135     Resul Cengiz, Denizli reporter with Zaman
136     Sadık Demir – Radyo Karacadağ
137     Sait Gürka Tuzlu, Cihan reporter
138     Salih Erbekler – Radyo Karacadağ
139     Sami Tunca, Mücadele Birliği magazine Managing Editor
140     Selman Keleş, DİHA
141     Semiha Mete, Özgürlükçü Demokrasi reporter and distributor
142     Serhat Şeftali, Zaman regional bureau chief for the Med region
143     Serkan Aydemir, Bitlis Aktüel reporter
144     Serkan Erdoğan, Özgürlükçü Demokrasi
145     Seyid Kılıç, TRT News
146     Seyithan Akyüz, Azadiya Welat Adana bureau chief
147     Sezgin Kartal, Sosyalist Dayanımşa magazine
148     Şahabettin Demir, DİHA reporter
149     Şahin Alpay, Zaman columnist
150     Şeref Yılmaz, Irmak TV
151     Şerife Oruç, DİHA reporter
152     Şirin Çoban, Azadiya Welat
153     Tahsin Kürklü, Zaman – head of Logistics Department
154     Togay Okay, Özgür Gelecek
155     Tunca Öğreten, former Diken editor
156     Tuncer Çetinkaya, Zaman Antalya
157     Ufuk Şanlı, former Vatan columnist
158     Ulaş Sezgin, ETHA reporter
159     Ünal Tanık, Rota Haber editor-in-chief
160     Vahit Yazgan, İzmir Zaman bureau chief
161     Vedat Beki, Sözcü 18
162     Vedat Demir, former Yarına Bakış writer
163     Yakup Çetin, Zaman reporter
164     Yakup Şimşek, Zaman, marketing director
165     Yalçın Güler, TRT (Erzurum)
166     Yasir Kaya, Fenerbahçe TV, formerly
167     Yener Dönmez, Habervaktim news website
168     Yetkin Yıldız, Aktif Haber website editor
169     Yılmaz Kahraman, Özgür Halk editor
170     Yusuf Karataş, Evrensel columnist
171     Zafer Özsoy
172     Zehra Doğan, Jinha
173     Ziya Ataman, DİHA reporter