(IFJ/IFEX) – In a 20 June 2000 letter to Turkish Cypriot Administration representative Rauf Denktash, the IFJ expressed its ongoing concern about the actions of the Turkish Cypriot administration against the daily Turkish Cypriot newspaper “AVRUPA”. The organisation understands that hearings started on 26 May, before a so-called “criminal court” in the Turkish occupied part […]
(IFJ/IFEX) – In a 20 June 2000 letter to Turkish Cypriot Administration representative Rauf Denktash, the IFJ expressed its ongoing concern about the actions of the Turkish Cypriot administration against the daily Turkish Cypriot newspaper “AVRUPA”.
The organisation understands that hearings started on 26 May, before a so-called “criminal court” in the Turkish occupied part of Cyprus, on seventy-five lawsuits against “AVRUPA” for “instigating hatred against the Turkish republic of North Cyprus and the Turkish army”. For each lawsuit, the military and the police demand five years imprisonment for the newspaper’s editor-in-chief, Shener Levent, and five other “AVRUPA” journalists.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to the Turkish Cypriot administration:
– expressing the belief that these proceedings are designed to prevent legitimate journalistic inquiry and comment on the work of the authorities
– noting that, as such, they constitute a severe breach of the right to freedom of expression
– suggesting that while the Turkish Cypriot authorities may well resent the editorial position of “AVRUPA”, which is critical of official policy in North Cyprus and the consolidation of the division of Cyprus into two separate states, these are legitimate and serious opinions that should have expression in a democracy
– calling on the Turkish Cypriot authorities and the Turkish government to end the current legal action against the newspaper “AVRUPA”
Appeals To
APPEALS TO:Mr. Rauf Denktash
Turkish Cypriot Administration
Cyprus
c/o IFJ Member Union in Cyprus
Fax: +357 2 664 598Solidarity letters to the editor-in-chief of “AVRUPA” should be sent through the same fax number. Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
