2 Journalists and 2 Interviewees Tried in Batman

Journalist Mustafa Kemal Çelik, executive of the Batman Post newspaper, is now being litigated on charges of "praising a criminal" because of an interview with the family of Mahsum Korkmaz, a militant of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) who was killed in 1986.

Meanwhile, a trial was also opened against journalist Ercan Atay, editor-in-chief of the Batman newspaper, another local daily, on the same accusations. The charges stem from publishing an e-mail sent by the PKK regarding a road side bomb attack in Batman on 31 July that caused the death of four human rights advocators. The e-mail was published in the daily on 8 August.

Çelik will appear before the Magistrate Criminal Court of Batman in the pre-dominantly Kurdish region of south-eastern Turkey on 13 December. The date of Atay's first hearing is still unknown. On 7 December, the Press Council and the International Press Institute National Committee called both journalists on the phone to express their support.

The representatives of the professional press organizations declared to follow up both trials. They announced that they were going to convey both issues to the "Freedom for Journalists Platform" consisting of 17 press institutions.

The interview entitled "The Korkmaz family told the Batman Post their very bitter story" was published on 22 August 2010. It was reported that "two family members died when they were tortured in clashes; the father of the family died in custody".

The interview was done with  Fehmi Korkmaz, the brother of Mahsum Korkamz, and his sister Maşallah Korkmaz. It was reported that the body of Mahsum Korkmaz, who was killed in the course of a military operation in 1986, was never returned to his family. It was said that he was first taken to Tugary/Siirt (south-eastern Turkey) and four months later dumped into to the Kasaplar River.

Fehmi and Maşallah Korkmaz are also tried in the scope of the case against Atay. All four defendants of the two cases are charged with "praising a crime and a criminal". (EÖ/VK)