Journalists Union and Reporter Özer Won Accreditation Trial

The Administrative Litigation Chamber Board of the Council of State decided to repeal the accreditation ban imposed to Günlük Evrensel newspaper reporter Sultan Özer.

The journalist's application to renew her accreditation was rejected in 2008. Thereupon, Özer, member of the Central Discipline Board of te Turkish Journalists Union (TGS), was not able to follow up news on Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan or on the General Assembly of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

The decision was communicated on 4 May and based on the "principle of continuity". Hence, journalist Özer will be able to obtain a Prime Ministry Accreditation card upon the decision of the Council of State.

In November 2008, Özer, who was Prime Ministry reporter for 8 years, was not allowed to observe the Council of Ministers on the grounds that her accreditation was cancelled. Hasan Tüfekçi and Turan Yılmaz of daily Hürriyet, Abdullah Karakuş of daily Milliyet, Fatma Çözen of Star TV and Ali Ekber Ertürk of daily Akşam were also affected from this decision.

Spokesperson of the Prime Ministry at the time, Akif Beki, had put forward allegations of "false news" and "forged photographs". Upon Özer's petition regarding the ban of her accreditation, the Prime Ministry justified the procedure by saying that the decision "did not conform to the criteria of continuity". A number of professional press organizations, among them also the TGS, condemned the attitude of the Prime Ministry in several announcements.

Together with Özer, the TGS decided to bring the issue to court. Union lawyer Meliha Selvi filed a case at the Ankara Administrative Court and drew attention to inaccuracies in the application of the accreditation. Selvi requested to repeal the ban in correspondence to the principle of "continuity" as one of the Prime Ministry Accreditation Principles.

The trial was eventually transferred to the Council of State after the Ankara 9th Administrative Court had decided for lack of jurisdiction. On 20 May 2010, the Council of State 10th Chamber dismissed the request to annul the application.

The corresponding appeal was handled by the Council of State Administrative Litigation Chambers. On 4 May 2011, a repeal of the accreditation ban was finally decided. (EÖ/VK)