MEDIA ATTACKS AND JAIL � THE PRICE OF SOLIDARITY

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) deplores the growing harassment of media
freedom defenders in Turkey, in particular pro-government media attacks
on journalists covering the trial of 17 _Cumhuriyet_ newspaper
employees, and the incarceration on 14 August of a journalist for taking
part in a campaign of solidarity with a pro-Kurdish newspaper.

For the past ten days, pro-government media have accused [4] around 30
journalists covering the _Cumhuriyet_ trial of being "traitors" and
"Erdoğan enemies" bent on "sowing chaos and "promoting a coup
d"état."

The campaign"s targets have included such leading media figures as
ERTUĞRUL MAVIOĞLU, BANU GÜVEN, SONER YALÇIN, FATIH POLAT and CANAN
COŞKUN, and such media freedom defenders as EROL ÖNDEROĞLU of RSF and
FARUK EREN of DİSK Basın-İş.

The basis for these wild allegations is nothing more than their (real or
alleged) membership of a WhatsApp group that was created to swap
information about the trial of the _Cumhuriyet _employees, which began
[5] on 24 July.

"These insane claims would be laughable if they did not put the
targeted journalists in grave danger," said Johann Bihr, the head of
RSF"s Eastern Europe and Central Asia desk. "We condemn this new
government-orchestrated campaign, which is designed to instil fear and
complete the process of silencing all media opposition."

_MEDIA LYNCHING _

Since 12 August, the newspapers _Sabah_, _Akşam_, _Star_, _Türkiye_
and _Güneş_ have been developing a conspiracy theory implicating
journalists covering the _Cumhuriyet_ trial, opposition parliamentarians
and eight leading human rights defenders, including Amnesty
International Turkey director İDIL ESER.

The eight human rights defenders have been detained since 6 July, when
they were arrested [6] while attending a seminar given by two foreign
trainers in an Istanbul hotel. President Erdoğan and the pro-government
media have branded the seminar as a "meeting of chaos" designed to
"prepare an uprising."

It was while examining the phones of the detained human right defenders
that police investigators discovered the existence of the _Cumhuriyet_
trial WhatsApp group. This was all that the pro-government columnists
needed to launch their attacks.

One columnist suggested [7] that the group, called "We will all be
free on 24 July," was being used to coordinate plans for a coup.
Another named [8] some of the alleged members as "journalists linked
to the chaos group." Another took this list, added more names and
wrote [9]: "Look who"s working with [the terrorists]! They are going
to put the streets to the torch, or they will blow themselves up!"

The government"s growing harassment and control of the media [10] has
been accompanied in recent years by increasingly extensive use of this
kind of smear campaign. These campaigns often pave the way for the
arrests of the targets or sometimes even by physical attacks against
them.

_JAILED FOR A SOLIDARITY CAMPAIGN_

This latest intimidation campaign comes at a critical moment for media
freedom defenders.

Journalist and human rights defender MURAT ÇELIKKAN was imprisoned [11]
on 14 August after being sentenced [12] to 18 months in prison on a
charge of "propaganda for a terrorist organization" because he took
part in a campaign of solidarity with the pro-Kurdish newspaper _Özgür
Gündem_.

He was one of 56 journalists, human rights defenders and intellectuals
who, in defence of pluralism, took turns at being _Özgür Gündem_"s
"editor for a day" from May to August 2016 because it had been
hounded by the justice system. Çelikkan is the first to be sentenced to
serve actual jail time for his role.

"A society without pluralism is not a democratic society," he said
in his defence [13] in court. "Punishing and convicting people who
report the news, who work as journalists and defend freedom of
expression, harms not only these people but also the entire democratic
system."

RSF Turkey representative Erol Önderoğlu is also being prosecuted [14]
for his role in this solidarity campaign. His trial is due to resume on
26 December before the same Istanbul court that passed the prison
sentence on Çelikkan.

Turkey is ranked 155th out of 180 countries in RSF"s 2017 World Press
Freedom Index [15]. The already worrying media situation has become
critical under the state of emergency [16] proclaimed after a coup
attempt [17] in July 2016. Around 150 media outlets have been closed and
more than 100 journalists are currently in prison [18].

SIGN THE PETITION [6] FOR THE RELEASE OF TURKISH HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS!

Johann Bihr
Head of Eastern Europe & Central Asia Desk
Reporters Without Borders
Tel : (33) 1 44 83 84 67, (33) 6 63 03 86 25