Associations Slam Periodical Ban, Censorship in Prisons

9 media outlets released a joint statement to protest the publication ban imposed on inmates across Turkey’s prisons. The ban includes all periodicals received by inmates via mail or through visitors. 

The statement was made in Human Rights Association (IHD) headquarters located in downtown in Istanbul and signed under the following media outlets: Atılım, Halkın Günlüğü, Kızıl Bayrak, Mücadele Birliği, Özgür Gelecek, Siyaset, Türkiye Gerçeği , Barikat Dergisi and Yarın. 

The meeting was attended by Semiha Şahin from Atılım newspaper, Mehmet Ali Karabulut from Kızılbayrak, Neriman Çelik from IHD’s Prison Commission, inmate relative Gülşah Tağaç, advocate Sezin Uçar and Arzu Demir from Journalists Union of Turkey (TGS). 

No official order

Speakers of the event reminded that the ban has been imposed in early November. According to information from inmate letters and visitor sessions, authorities based the ban on a Justice Ministry ruling Number 172740 dated on November 10. 

However, no such order was available, claimed the speakers. 

They also added that various prisons based the ban on reasons associated with helping the “continuation of order in prison” [in Tekirdağ High Security Prison] and cutting the communication between inmates and “illegal” organizations [in Sincan Prison]. 

The statement also underlined that the ban targeted on silencing the “revolutionary, socialist and dissident” press by obstructing the revolutionary prisoners from dissident publications. 

Why ban?

Advocate Sezin Uçar said that their efforts to reach the aforementioned ruling from Justice Ministry yielded no results. 

“If we reach the ruling,” she continued, “we will take legal actions for its suspension.” 

Reminding last year’s book limitations and its suspension after inmate protests, Uçar added that inmates are as reactant to this ban. 

Arzu Demir from TGS said that the ban concerned the right to get information and get news information. 

“We will be on the chase,” she said. 

Inmate relative Gülşah Tağaç, on the other hand, compared the ban with the practices during Turkey’s Military Coup in 1980 and said: “Why this ban?”

“[Authorities] already put them between 4 walls. They could only read limited selection of books. It is not a solution to take those from them. We can’t reach anywhere with bans.”

Neriman Çelik from IHD underlined that they were unable to track down such ban order on periodicals in prisons. 

“Arbitrary bans resume in Turkey’s prisons,” she said. (BK/BM)

* Click here to read the article in Turkish.