JOURNALISTS TAHMAZ AND DEMIRER STILL IN THE DOCK

BIAnet
-of-expression/120728-journalists-tahmaz-and-demir er-still-in-the-dock
March 18 2010
Turkey

Hakan Tahmaz will have to appear at court on 1 June for his interview
with PKK leading official Karayılan. Temel Demirer will stand trial
on 20 May for his statement that Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant
Dink was killed for recognizing the Armenian genocide.

Erol ONDEROÄ~^LU hukuk@bianet.org Istanbul – Ankara – BÄ°A News
Center18 March 2010, Thursday Journalist Hakan Tahmaz is in the dock
for his interview held with leading official of the militant Kurdistan
Workers’ Party (PKK) on Kandil Mountain in the pre-dominantly Kurdish
region of south-eastern Turkey. His colleague Temel Demirer is due to
the dock himself for his statement that Turkish-Armenian journalist
"Hrant Dink was not killed for being Armenian, but for recognising
the genocide [of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in 1915]."

Human rights defender Tahmaz, Birgun newspaper editorial manager
Ä°brahim CeÅ~_mecioglu and owner of the daily Bulent Yılmaz stand
accused of "publishing statements of PKK/KONGRAGEL" according to
article 6/2 of the Anti-Terror Act (TMY). Reason for the prosecution
is the interview entitled "Unilateral Ceasefire Amplifies the Problem"
published in Birgun daily on 9 August 2008.

Last phase of trial on Kandil interview Prosecutor SavaÅ~_ KırbaÅ~_
from the Istanbul 10th High Criminal Court demanded to punish the
three defendants by reason of the interview with Murat Karayılan,
leader of the KCK (Koma Civaken Kurdistan), known as the umbrella
organization of the PKK.

The three defendants will now prepare their defence to be presented
in the coming hearing on 1 June. A decision may be reached in the
same hearing.

The prosecution demands imprisonment of up to three years for Tahmaz
and CeÅ~_mecioglu, Yılmaz is facing a heavy monetary fine.

Change of courts for Demirer Journalist and author Temel Demirer
is facing prison sentence of up to two years for his statement made
the day after the assassination of Hrant Dink in January 2007. He is
prosecuted under article 301 of the Turkish Criminal Code (TCK). Saying
"I do not let anybody call my state a murderer", Demirer tries to
annul the approval for his case which was issued by Justice Minister
Mehmet Ali Å~^ahin at the administrative court.

Upon the decline of the Administrative Court of the request to
discontinue the proceedings, Demirer’s lawyers appealed once more
to the Regional Administrative Court on 29 January. The Ankara 2nd
Criminal Court of First Instance has been waiting for a decision from
the administrative court since 14 November 2008.

Coming hearing on 20 May On Wednesday (17 March) Demirer went to the
Ankara court and got to know that his file has been forwarded to the
Ankara 11th Criminal Court of First Instance. The writer’s case will
be continued on 20 May.

Demirer was accompanied to court by sociologist Ä°smail BeÅ~_ikci,
writer Fikret BaÅ~_kaya and members of the Ankara Initiative for
Freedom of Thought.