Press Trial Awaiting Decision

Mutlu and Coskun, the directors of the monthly Dersim magazine, are facing a trial for violating the declaration by publishing Kurdish articles. The court handling the trial is awaiting a decision on the issue by the Constitutional Court.

Erol Önderoğlu

Kemal Mutlu and Ali Ekber Coskun, the directors of the monthly "Dersim" magazine, are facing a trial for "violating a declaration given to the property owner by publishing Kurdish articles."

The journalists are being charged for violating the press laws by publishing Kurdish articles in the June 2002 issue of the magazine.

They will wait for the outcome of the application to the Constitutional Court by President Ahmet Necdet Sezer on May 21, 2002.

Sezer had said that the "fines in the press laws would prevent news, opinions and views from being published freely and would jeopardize the existence of news organizations."

Mutlu and Coskun did not attend the hearing on February 24 in an Izmir court. Lawyer Ercan Demir represented the journalists.

During the short hearing, judge Faruk Ozturk said the court would wait for the decision of the Constitutional Court and postponed the hearing till April 27.

The journalists had refused to pay the fine of 20 billion Turkish lira each (US$15,000), and were facing another trial for that. They face a fine of more than 30 billion Turkish lira (US$23,000) each now.

In the June 2002 issue of the magazine, there were a number of Kurdish articles, including, "A Country Addicted to Freedom," by Orhan Veli, "Festival Honor Award," by Saheyder Veroz, and "Faith in Dersim," by Usen e Azgele. (EO/EA/NM)

Origin

BÄ°A News Center

Erol Önderoğlu

[email protected]

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A graduate of the French Language and Literature Department at İstanbul University. He has served as the Turkey representative for the international organization Reporters Without...

A graduate of the French Language and Literature Department at İstanbul University. He has served as the Turkey representative for the international organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF), where he began as a reporter in 1996. Since 1999, he has worked at bianet, a project of the IPS Communication Foundation, as the coordinator of the Legal Support Desk, editor for freedom of expression, and editor-in-chief. He has authored more than 4,800 signed news articles and opinion pieces. He has also written for Bizim Gazete and the journal Güncel Hukuk. He currently prepares the Media Monitoring Reports at bianet.