Only the journalists' lawyer attended the hearing at the Istanbul State Security Court (DGM) on November 26.
The court accepted the application of Ozkoray and Dolay, who currently live in France, to make their depositions in writing. The hearing was postponed to March 13, 2003 so that the written depositions could be received.
The journalists are being charged with, "separatists propaganda," because of an article published in the 12th edition of the magazine. The charges are based on article 8 of Anti Terror laws (TMY).
The Justice Ministry had taken the journalists to court with the demand of the General Staff. The article leading to the court case was titled, "Kurdish Wound," and was published in December 2001.
There are other ongoing trials because of articles and interviews published in the 11th, 12th, and 13th editions of the now-closed-down magazine. An Istanbul court is trying journalist Erol Ozkoray and Secretary General Robert Menard of the Journalists Without Borders (RSF), because of those articles and interviews.
Journalist Ozkoray and RSF Secretary General Menard are being tried because of an article titled, "Turkey is Deceiving Itself," published in the 13th edition of the magazine that covers the months of December 2001, January and February 2002. An interview with Secretary General Menard titled, "RSF: Turkish Regime is Schizophrenic," also lead to a trial.
Ozkoray and Menard are being charged with "insulting the military" Because they violated the laws twice, Ozkoray and Menard face up to six years in prison based on article 159 of Turkish Penal Code (TCK).
Journalist Ozkoray is also being tried by another Istanbul court because of articles, "Oligarchic Square: Turkey is Really being Annoyed," and "Turkey's Bankruptcy: Pandemonium," that were published in the magazine's 11th edition.
Because Ozkoray "insulted the military," three times, he faces a total of nine years in prison based on article 159 of the TCK.
18 years in prison in two cases
Another Istanbul court is trying Ozkoray because of articles, "What is the Army for?," "TCK, Against Idea," and "European Cyprus, Middle-Eastern Turkey," published in the 12th edition of the magazine. The prosecutors demand up to nine years in prison for Ozkoray because he committed the same wrongdoing three times.
Both courts accepted defendant Erol Ozkoray's plea and decided on a communiqué for the next hearing on December 27, 2002. The journalist will be presenting his deposition for the first time in both cases.
Website closed down, case brought against
On December 6, 2001, an Istanbul court ruled that the "Idea Politic" magazine's website, www.ideapolitika.com would be closed down. And a case was brought against Ozkoray because of the articles published on the website on charges of "insulting the republic and the military forces of the state." (EO/BB/EA/NM)
