6 April 1999
TWO JAILED JOURNALISTS DIE; MED TV CLOSED
Two jailed journalists reportedly died in Turkey in March, according to Reporters sans frontières (RSF) and the Writers in Prison Committee (WiPC) of International PEN. According to RSF, on 27 March, Çetin Günes, a columnist with the far-left periodical "Hedef" (Target), died at the Ankara hospital after succumbing to a serious heart condition. He had been transferred from the Ankara prison while on a hunger strike. Günes was detained for questioning in July 1998, and was sentenced last year to a 16-month prison term for "separatist propaganda" (in accordance with Article 8 of Anti-terrorist Law 3713.) The charge was related to an article published in September 1994 in the far-left monthly "Sosyalist Alternatif", entitled "The role and characteristics of a militant of the Turkish revolution." The journalist had suffered from a heart condition for some time, says RSF.
The WiPC reports that, according to Amnesty International, journalist Bayram Namaz announced at a 9 March press conference that fellow journalist Suleyman Yeter died as a result of torture while they were in custody together. On 5 March, Namaz, Yeter and three others were taken from the offices of the newspaper "Dayanisma" and detained in cells in the Anti-Terror Branch of Istanbul Police Station. The next day, Yeter told Namaz he had been stripped and beaten, sprayed with cold water and forced to lie on ice. That night, Namaz and the other detainees heard the cries of someone under torture; on the following morning the Fatih State Prosecutor reported that Yeter had died in custody, says the WiPC.
Namaz was released on 9 March and made reports to Turkey's Human Rights Association and the Office of the Prosecutor in Fatih. According to the WiPC, "He claims that in the last 12 days he has been repeatedly followed by police in marked cars and is now fearing for his own safety." Namaz and Yeter were among 15 detainees whose claims of being tortured in detention in early 1997 were being officially investigated, and Yeter had been detained and threatened as a result of this investigation. On 24 March, the WiPC says, "the Istanbul Bar Association expressed concern that Yeter's death was in direct retaliation for his attempt to bring to justice those who had tortured him in 1997."
According to the International Press Institute (IPI) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), the satellite television service licence of Med Broadcasting Ltd. (Med TV), based in London, the United Kingdom, was suspended for 21 days at the end of March. IPI says Med TV is the only satellite station broadcasting in Kurdish. The Independent Television Commission (ITC) decided that Med TV had broadcast material several times in February "likely to encourage or incite to crime or to lead to disorder of a nature sufficient to justify revocation." Med TV is entitled to appeal within 21 days, after which the Commission must decide whether or not to revoke Med TV's licence. According to IPI, "The Turkish government has welcomed the ITC's decision and called for a permanent halt to the broadcasts of Med TV." Adds IPI, "the National Security Council of Turkey accuses Med TV of spreading 'separatist propaganda' and has continuously sought to prevent its broadcasts. In the past, Med TV's news and panel discussion programmes have been targeted by jamming signals emanating from Turkey, while in Kurdish regions of Turkey, satellite dishes and antennae have been prohibited and destroyed by soldiers and police units." The IFJ says it "is particularly worried about this decision because Med TV provides cultural and linguistic output to various communities in Europe. It broadcasts in several languages and celebrates various cultural and religious traditions."
RSS