Trial of 44 journalists starts
ISTANBUL – In the Turkish city of Istanbul the trial of 44 journalists working for Kurdish media has started. They are accused of ‘membership of an illegal organization’.
The journalists were detained last December and 35 of them have been in jail ever since. They are being tried in the so-called ‘KCK trials’, in which thousands of Kurds are being prosecuted for membership of the KCK, an umbrella organization of Kurdish groups in Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Syria.
There has been a lot of criticism of the case from the start, including from international human rights organisations. The case against the journalists, they state, is politically motivated and meant to silence Kurdish media. The evidence against the defendants is very weak.
There is not much progress expected at the first hearing. Most of the suspects will want to defend themselves in Kurdish, but the judge won’t allow that.
Frederike,
I would be really pleased if you could add a line or so about trials going on for other media members (which is not considered as Kurdish) so the big picture would be clear.
As it is, it gives impression that suppression is only meant for Kurdish media members which is not the case really. It is part of current government’s agenda for dominating media and creating a controlled media. It seems like you are a bit obsessed about Kurdish people’s right. I don’t know how cute is that while every single person’s rights are violated in Turkey at the moment.
Please don’t tell me to start my own blog as a response. I will start my own soon but it will be about my own profession 😉
Cheers,
Candide
Nobody cares about your crying.
The KCK is an extension of the PKK.
If you are a terrorist, you will be arrested.
Simple as that.
God there’s Candide again with his crap. This is a short news article, and this was the news of this day. I have written about trials against non-Kurdish journalists too on this site, extensively even, and you know it.