Police Unlawfully Questions Journalists' Identity

The police asked for "official" press identity from journalists and unlawfully barred those who don't hold one, in yesterday's meeting organized by trade unions against the economic crisis and government policies.

Officers declined to accept designed identity cards of journalists, issued by their employers and forced them to cover the meeting from a remote point in Kadıköy Avenue. "Official" press identities are issued by the Prime Ministry and are subject to bureaucratic limitations. Those working for online media are not recognized as journalists, for example.

Bawer Cakir of bianet was among those impeded by the police. "The police chief wouldn't listen to us", he recalls. 

He was then able to enter the meeting area from a different checkpoint, but "the designed platform for journalists wasn't well-suited for covering the speeches."

When two groups of trade unionists clashed briefly over a dispute concerning voicing support for Turk Metal-Sen chief Mustafa Ozbek –who is under custody in relation to Ergenekon case- Cakir was caught in between.

"Some colleagues were beaten and others were targets of clubs and umbrellas thrown." Cakir himself was hit on the neck. Kızıl Bayrak paper's Ozgun Cetin also recalls the event: "About 70-80 members of the Turk Metal-Sen union entered the area where journalists stood. They were there just to defend Ozbek and had no incentive in relation to the meetings puposes. I was hit by a club on the chest."

He also claimed that the police discriminated against journalists working for the leftist press, while others were allowed to pass.(EÖ/AGÜ)