Imprisoning Journalists In Christmas Turkey
Emre Kızılkaya has an update on the trial of Turkish investigative journalist Nedem Şener on his blog, which I recommend. Emre is the chief foreign news editor at Hürriyet.
Some of the defendants petitioned for a recusation, refusing the chief judge who was photographed in the past at an iftar dinner with the police officials who helped in writing the indictment. The prosecutor who wrote the indictment was also photographed at the same dinner.
The defendants insisted that the chief judge must retreat himself as it was clear that he couldn't try the cause, on account of his supposed partiality. In any democracy with a sound legal system, a judge retreats himself after such an accusation, even if he is really not linked to the police or the prosecution anyway. As this is Turkey, the judge refused to retreat and forwarded the recusation to a higher court.
It means that Nedim Şener and other journalists, including other prominent ones like Ahmet Şık, will remain behind prison bars at least for another month without trial. We may expect that the attention of the media and foreign observers will diminish then, which may also mean that the imprisoned journalists will be tried by the same judges next year.
When I was leaving the courtroom, Ms. Matera was speaking to a defense attorney in shock. "The next trial will be held on December 26th. It's the day after Christmas! How will the Western observers and journalists visit Turkey again on that day?! Could they choose the date with ill intentions?" she asked.
"No, I'm sure nobody thought about the Christmas," the attorney assured her, "This is Turkey."
- Comment (1)
- · Quote
- · UnfollowFollow (0)
Comments :
Feb '11
Re: Imprisoning Journalists In Christmas Turkey
Do you mean the title of your post to sound as though the journalists are being imprisoned inside a turkey destined for the Christmas feast?
I prefer my stuffing with sage and onions.
Edited on Nov 23, 2011 at 10:58am