Prof. Akdeniz: Access Block on Odatv a Move to Intimidate Journalists

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The access block on the Odatv news site over a report on the death of an intelligence officer in Libya was "an intervention to intimidate, silence and scare journalists," according to Prof. Yaman Akdeniz from the Freedom of Expression Association.

Over the same report, the news manager and a reporter of the outlet were remanded in custody yesterday (March 5) for "exposing information concerning the National Intelligence Agency's (MİT) duties." Odatv's editor-in-chief, Barış Pehlivan, was also referred to the court with a request of arrest today.

CLICK - Journalists Terkoğlu, Kılınç Arrested over Report on Killed Intelligence Officer in Libya

The access to the site was blocked today by the Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK), a regulatory and inspection agency for telecommunications.

Akdeniz said that they had yet to find a court order for an access block to the entire website. İstanbul 3rd Penal Judgeship of Peace issued a block order for the Libya article, which was subsequently removed by Odatv.

CLICK - Access Block on Odatv News Website

"What we don't know here is whether there is a verdict of block for the entire website from the penal judgeships of peace in Ankara. We could not have found this yet.

"The blocking of Odatv has similarities with the blocking of Wikipedia. Article 8/1 of Law No. 5651, which was introduced on the excuses of protecting the national security and public order, functions as a mechanism of censorship. Moreover, access to Odatv was blocked despite the fact that it removed the news report in question.

"This appears as an intervention to intimidate, silence and scare the press. Barış Terkoğlu and Hülya Kılınç were remanded in custody. Barış Pehlivan was demanded to be arrested."

'Systematic censorship'

While what happened was not surprising considering the recent pressure on Odatv, an order of access block is "the heaviest blow to a press organization," Prof. Akdeniz noted.

"Unlike other newspapers, Odatv only publishes on the internet. This verdict on the site means censorship. The government systematically uses access block decisions against the press.

"The European Court of Human Rights says that an entire site cannot be shut down. I am also of the same opinion. There are thousands of news reports on the Odatv website. When you block the entire site because of a news report, which has been removed, you forever block not only the news or content published in the past but also the content after the date of blocking." (HA/VK)