Reporting - a Crime? Journalists Şener, Çakkalkurt and Usta at Court
Journalist Nedim Şener was due in court on Thursday (2 June) on the grounds of two news items published in Milliyet newspaper. Şener, being detained in the Silvri Prison for three months in the scope of the Ergenekon Investigation, appeared at court twice last week (31 May/2 June) in the context of various trials related to articles published in the nation-wide daily.
Şener stands accused of "insult via the media" and "violation of the confidentiality of an investigation" together with Milliyet manager Hasan Çakkalkurt before the Bakırköy (Istanbul) 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance. The charges stem from the article "He is carrying the bribe money in his pocket" published on 23 October 2010. Şener is furthermore tried under allegations of "violation of the confidentiality of an investigation" based on the article "The black bag was not in the room" published on 3 November 2010.
At the hearing, Şener was supported by his wife Vecide Şener, his mother Hüsniye Şener, his uncle Fahri İncedere, journalist Haluk Şahin as a member of the Freedom for Journalists Platform (GÖP) and board member of the Press Institute Association, journalists Atilla Özsever and Murat Sabuncu, Vice President of the Turkish Journalists Platform (TGC) Turgay Olcayto, Su Publishing official Recep Tatar and members of the "Friends of Ahmet and Nedim" group.
The date of the hearing was delayed by one day because the court president was on leave on 1 June.
Journalist Çakkalkurt, editor-in-chief at the time the article was published, said to his defence that due to the publication policies and the understanding of journalism neither a violation of confidentiality nor insult was an issue. Çakkalkurt put forward that he published the article as a requirement of press freedom since its content was newsworthy.
Trial postponed
The news article was touching upon operations carried out against the CNR Exhibition Centre in Istanbul and the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce (ITO). Şener pointed to the fact that he quoted his sources in the article, i.e. information of the ANKA Agency issued on 3 April 2010 and information received from İbrahim Yıldız. He emphasized that certain judges from the Bakırköy Courthouse were only mentioned with their initials. Şener criticized that nevertheless only Ferşa Aydın filed a criminal complaint.
Defence lawyer Yücel Döşemeci indicated that the initials F.A. came up several times during a simple internet search of the Bakırköy Courthouse. "There is more than one person with the initials F.A. at the Bakırköy Courthouse", Döşemeci noted.
Thereupon, the court decided to contact the Bakırköy Courthouse Justice Commission to request a list of all judges who worked at the Bakırköy Courthouse between 2008 when the complaint was lodged and 3 April 2010 when the information was published. The trial was postponed to 1 November.
'Article was about a bag not a terrorist organization'
Moreover, Şener is tried because of publishing a statement of witness Nazmi Ayhan. A black bag containing cassettes related to politicians, journalists and bureaucrats in the 1990s was allegedly found in the office of former Chief of Police Hanife Avcı when he was arrested in the course of an operation related to the Revolutionary Headquarters terrorist organization. However, Şener quoted Ayhan who rejected this allegation.
Regarding the charges pressed against Şener, both the journalist and his lawyer Döşemeci claimed that the publication was not related to the confidential Revolutionary Headquarters operation itself. The article rather dealt with the investigation into the allegations regarding the bag they said.
Lawyer Nurcan Çalışkan, joint attorney of Şener, announced that trials based on Article 285 of the Turkish Criminal Law (TCK) opened on the grounds of news that aim at informing the public actually mean that no news at all could be made about any investigations. The court declared to investigate this file as well and get back to it on 3 November 2011.
Nine trials pending after recent aquittal
On 31 May, journalist Şener was acquitted of charges of "violation of communications" by the Bakırköy (Istanbul) 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance. The charges had been pressed against the journalist on the grounds of the article "Identities were part of the duty" published on 30 September 2010 in Milliyet daily. The article contained statements made by Hanefi Avcı, former Chief of Police, and his wife Şenay Avcı.
Şener was taken into custody on 3 March following a raid on several private homes. Three days later, he was arrested together with journalist Ahmet Şık. Both journalists are being detained in the Silivri Prison west of Istanbul. They are still waiting for learning the concrete allegations made against them, for the preparation of the indictment and for their release.
Journalist Ayşegül Usta at court
Journalist Ayşegül Usta from Hürriyet newspaper was summoned to the same court on 2 June. Usta is facing allegations of "violating the confidentiality of an investigation" by reason of her article "Prosecution without detention cannot be precluded". In her article, Usta referred to the decision of the release of several defendants of the "Sledgehammer" Investigation given by the Istanbul 9th High Criminal Court on 22 June 2010. (EÖ/VK)