Articles by IPS Communication Foundation – Bianet
CAPSULE REPORT: More violations of free expression in 2007, says BIANET report
(BIANET/IFEX) – The following is an 18 January 2008 BIANET report: BIA 2007 Media Monitoring Report: A Sad Year For Free Speech The “BIA Annual Media Monitoring Report” for the year 2007 has been published in Turkish and will soon also appear in English. The 60-page report is divided into “attacks and threats”, “detentions and […]
Two women journalists critical of militarism targeted by nationalist newspaper
(BIANET/IFEX) – The nationalist “Tercuman” newspaper has targeted journalists Perihan Magden and Ece Temelkuran for expressing their anti-militarist opinions. BIANET fears that this is a frightening repeat of what happened to Hrant Dink. The “Halka ve Olaylara Tercuman” (“Interpreter of the People and Events”) newspaper was one of the newspapers which did not cover the […]
Editor on trial for publishing article mentioning Ataturk, faces possible prison sentence
(BIANET/IFEX) – Yasin Yetisgen, managing editor of the local newspaper “Coban Atesi” (“Shepherd’s Fire”) in Gaziantep, faces up to seven and a half years in prison for publishing an article containing references to Ataturk. The article was written by a journalist, Berkant Coskun, who lives abroad, and was entitled “Mother, Don’t Send Me to Military […]
ECHR condemns censorship under emergency law, awards compensation to journalists
(BIANET/IFEX) – The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has awarded compensation to journalists who were punished under emergency law and whose newspaper was banned in the Emergency Law regions. The ECHR considered the cases of journalists from the “Evrensel” and “Günlük Evrensel” newspapers on 8 January 2008. The court decreed that the punishment of […]
Court case against writer, editor and magazine owner dropped on technicality
(BIANET/IFEX) – The court case against sociologist Ismail Besikci, “Esmer” magazine owner Ferzende Kaya, and the magazine’s editor, Mehmet Ali Izmir, has been dropped because of “lapse of time”. The three had been charged under Article 216 of the Turkish Penal Code for “inciting hatred and hostility” because of an article Besikci wrote in the […]
Writer receives 14-month suspended sentence over “Aktüel” magazine article
(BIANET/IFEX) – Writer Perihan Magden has been given a 14-month suspended prison sentence under Article 125 of the Penal Code for reporting on what people said about Aytac Akgül when Akgül was the governor of Yüksekova district, in the southeastern province of Hakkari. She has been convicted of insulting Akgül. An article published in the […]
Union representative on trial over article using Kurdish alphabet; Kurdish leader condemns those expressing opinions contradicting PKK line
(BIANET/IFEX) – In two separate cases, free expression is being suppressed in relation to Kurdish language, culture and politics. In one case, this suppression is the result of actions by Turkish authorities, in the other, of actions by a Kurdish political leader. Kiyasettin Aslan, a trade union representative based in Kilis, in southeastern Turkey, is […]
Editor facing criminal charges over article on politician after being ordered to pay compensation in civil suit
(BIANET/IFEX) – A civil court has ruled that a website editor’s article about a politician, published in a newspaper, was insulting and has ordered him to pay compensation. The editor is also now facing criminal charges that may net him three years in prison if convicted. Yalcin Ergündogan, the editor-in-chief of the sesonline.net website, wrote […]