DPA/
Media march: Turkish journalists hold copies of Turkish newspapers and pictures of arrested colleagues during a rally in Istanbul
More than a thousand people protested in
“I call on those running the country: Free all of the journalists in prison,” said Ercan Ipekci, the rotating head of the Freedom for Journalists Platform, an umbrella organisation of 92 national and local media groups that put together the demonstration.
Ipekci appealed to the government to “make immediate changes to the penal code and criminal court law, laws that do away with free communication by allowing wiretapping, and laws that are a basis for bans on internet communication”.
The demonstration was the second held in Istanbul in 10 days in reaction to the arrest earlier this month of seven journalists on charges of membership in Ergenekon, an alleged conspiracy of hard- line secularists that allegedly sought to overthrow the Islamist-leaning Justice and Development Party (AKP) government in 2003.
Two of those arrested, Ahmet Sik and Nedim Sener, are prominent investigative reporters who had written articles and books on sensitive political issues that are perceived to have angered the ruling party.
Hundreds of journalists led the protest, chanting slogans including: “Don’t stay silent, or your turn will come”, “Ahmet and Nedim will get out and write again” and “AKP, take your hands off the media”.
They were followed by hundreds more protesters representing the Istanbul Bar Association and a range of opposition political parties that are equally angered by the climate of media persecution that has increased in Turkey in recent months.
The Ergenekon investigation has led to the arrest of more than 300 people, including journalists, academics, politicians and retired military officers.
But the arrest of journalists like Sik, one of the reporters who originally exposed Ergenekon’s existence, on charges of having ties to the same organisation stretches credibility and shows that the government is using the case to silence its opponents, critics say.
Though unrelated to the journalists’ arrests, the recent ruling of a Turkish court to ban all access to the Google-owned blogging platform Blogger over a copyright dispute involving a handful of blogs has also sparked outrage.
Turkey was ranked 138th place out of 178 countries in Reporters Without Borders’ Press Freedom Index in 2010, down from 101st place three years earlier.
The Freedom for Journalists Platform says that 68 journalists are imprisoned, at least 45 are facing possible prison sentences, and there are court cases ongoing against more than 2,000 others.
“This is a picture of shame. This is an embarrassment, not for journalists or for the people of this country, but for those running the country,” Ipekci said.