OSCE Representative asked Ankara to drop charges against the author of
a book on the murder of Hrant Dink
20.06.2009 17:29 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Miklos Haraszti, the OSCE Representative on Freedom
of the Media, asked Turkish authorities today to drop charges against
journalist Nedim Sener for his investigative book on the murder of
fellow journalist Hrant Dink, and called for urgent reform of laws
that restrict freedom of expression. "Sener is prosecuted in defiance
of freedoms that both OSCE commitments and Council of Europe standards
grant to critical publications," wrote Haraszti in a letter to Foreign
Minister Ahmet Davutoglu. "What he did was critically assess the
events leading up to Hrant Dink’s murder, and the deficiencies
afterwards in the handling of the case and in the prosecution of the
perpetrators." "Justice must not be degraded into an act of revenge by
the criticized authorities," said Haraszti. Sener, a journalist for
newspaper Milliyet, faces up to 28 years of imprisonment for writing a
book, entitled The Dink Murder and Intelligence Lies. The book alleges
that security forces failed to stop the murder of the well-known
Turkish-Armenian writer in 2007, and cites alleged incidents of
negligence by gendarmerie, police and national intelligence officers
working on the case.
"Media freedom commitments may be complied with only if fact-finding
journalism receives the full backing of the law, and inaccuracies, if
any have occurred, are not criminalized," wrote Haraszti in the
letter.
"Legal provisions in Turkey could be misused to curb freedom of
expression and information," he added. "The Criminal Code, the Press
Law, the Anti-Terrorism Law, and the recent Law No. 5651 on Internet
regulation all need to be modernized so that they cannot be used to
restrict speech rights."
"By dropping the charges against Sener, Turkey could now stop
punishing the messengers of unwelcome news, and instead carry out
much-needed legal reform to ensure freedom of expression," Miklos
Haraszti said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress