Today’s Zaman, Turkey
March 8 2007
In wake of Hrant Dink murder, print media pays heavy price for
coverage
The 18-year-old suspected murderer of Turkish Armenian journalist
Hrant Dink, O.S. of Trabzon, has turned out to be a
bigger-than-expected headache for Turkish newspapers.
Many newspapers in Turkey are now facing stiff fines in the wake of
Dink’s mid-January murder for breaking the press rule of `not
disclosing the identities of those under 18 years of age.’
Prosecutors have demanded fines of up to YTL 100,000 from newspapers
that broke the `under 18′ rule, and reports are that if the money is
not paid within 10 days, the fines will increase. While the Turkish
Press Council complains that `the media is paying the price for the
Dink murder,’ the Journalists’ Association is pointing at what they
say is a double standard for newspapers compared to television
stations, noting that although Dink’s alleged murderer, O.S.,
received plenty of exposure on television, there have been no fines
meted out to television stations. A prosecutor working on the O.S.
case revealed recently in a press conference that the fines for the
Zaman newspaper in the Dink case would be more than YTL 100,000.
Journalist Oktay Ekþi, the chairman of the Turkish Press Council, has
asserted that it is the print media that is being saddled with the
bill following Dink’s murder, noting that he is against the tens of
thousands of fines dealt out to newspapers for each photograph and
article that broke the `under 18 criminal suspect’ rule. Eksi said
that prosecutors, instead of pursuing those responsible for the Dink
murder, have given orders for various newspapers to pay fines, and
that these fines have had a silencing effect on the 67 large and 900
local newspapers in Turkey, as well as on the nearly 20 news agencies
across in the country.
Ekþi also underlined that the printed press was not the first to
disclose Dink’s murderer’s identity to Turkey, recalling that on Jan.
21, 2007, the police had made O.S.’s name public, while a little
while later, the Ýstanbul governor, Ýstanbul police chief, the Samsun
governor and the Samsun police chief also revealed O.S.’s name and
identity once again. Ekþi also asserted that in the first days
following the murder, O.S.’s age had not yet been determined and that
most people in Turkey received their initial information about O.S.
and his actions from television.
Managing Editor of Hürriyet daily Tufan Türenç asserts that the
disclosure of Hrant Dink’s murderer’s identity should not have
brought up questions about press principles, saying: `There is no
reason for hiding names in this situation. Images of the killer were
openly broadcast to help bring about his capture. His name was
disclosed. Thanks to the broadcast images, he was caught. Would his
father have been able to identify him if something had prevented the
broadcast of these images? This is not a matter of principles. I
think the decision to reveal his name was the right one.’
The chairman of the Turkish Journalists’ Association, Orhan Erinç,
agrees that in principle, the names of criminal suspects under the
age of 18 should not be revealed in the printed press but notes that
since all of Turkey already knew O.S.’s identity, due to public
disclosures by high level government authorities, there was no logic
in this principle. Erinç also points to the contradictions inherent
in the fines which have been leveraged against the print media,
saying `When you make a disclosure on television it’s not a crime,
but when you write it in a newspaper, it’s a crime.’
Authorities at the Istanbul chief prosecutor’s bureau have agreed
that due to the massive outcry sparked by the Dink murder, as well as
to the fact that the identity of Dink’s murderer was known by `all of
Turkey,’ the rules of secrecy which would normally apply in a case
like this do not apply to the ongoing investigation into this case.
It was following the arrival of a state-appointed defense lawyer for
Dink murderer O.S. that the request was made to republic prosecutors
to bring about strictures on Turkish newspaper and television
coverage of the identity and images of the murderer.
08.03.2007
BÜÞRA ERDAL ÝSTANBUL
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
