Tag Archive for: Freedom of expression
Indictment report in case of Prof. Dr. Şebnem Korur Fincancı
An analysis of the indictment against Human Rights Defender Şebnem Korur Fincancı
PEN Norway’s Turkey Indictment Project continues with four new indictment reports researched and authored by four leading international human rights lawyers and academics in 2023.
These reports represent a new analysis of indictments that directly concern freedom of expression in Turkey and those that particularly target journalists, politicians, human rights defenders and lawyers.
The report published today analyses the indictment written in November 2022 against Lawyer Şebnem Korur Fincancı
Read the full report in English
Raporun tamamını Türkçe olarak buradan okuyabilirsiniz
Şebnem Korur Fincancı MD is one of Turkey’s leading human rights defenders and an internationally-recognized forensic expert. She is currently the president of the Turkish Medical Association, and an executive board member of the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey. Dr. Fincancı is one of the authors of the Istanbul Protocol, the The Manual on the Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Fincancı was also one of the 2212 academics known as the “Academics for Peace”. She was prosecuted for signing a petition condemning the curfew in the south-east of Turkey and demanding peace. She was acquitted at the end of the trial.
Fincancı was previously prosecuted along with journalist Erol Önderoğlu and academic Ahmet Aziz Nezin for her work as a guest editor at Özgür Gündem newspaper during a country-wide solidarity campaign in 2016. She was acquitted in 2019 in a trial monitored by PEN Norway. However, the Istanbul Regional Court of Appeal reversed the judgment and along with other defendants, Fincancı will be on trial again.
In relation to this more recent indictment, Fincancı was arrested for an interview she gave on allegations that the Turkish armed forces had used chemical weapons in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. In the interview, Fincancı emphasised the need for an independent investigation and stated that she could only comment on whether chemical weapons had been used after an official forensic examination had been carried out. Although Fincancı’s statements were entirely within the scope of freedom of expression, she was arrested on charges of disseminating propaganda for a terrorist organisation under Article 7/2 of the Anti-Terror Law No. 3713 and afterwards she was sentenced to 2 years 8 months 15 days imprisonment. The case is still before the Istanbul Regional Court of Appeal.
Prof. Helen Duffy evaluated the indictment against Korur Fincancı in the light of international law and stated that “the crimes alleged, the factual basis set out in the indictment and the evidence referred to are manifestly insufficient to constitute reasonable suspicion of criminal activity. The indictment is, on its face, flagrantly incompatible with Turkey’s obligations under international human rights law detailed in this indictment review.”
Due to the ongoing crisis in the judiciary and deteriorated state of the rule of law in Turkey we will continue to analyse indictments that directly concern freedom of expression in 2024.
Uphold freedom of expression and access to information following devastating earthquakes
Türkiye: Uphold freedom of expression and access to information following devastating earthquakes
The PEN centres signatory below wish to offer their deepest sympathy and support to all those affected by the two earthquakes that hit south eastern Türkiye and Syria on 6 February 2023. Over 41,000 people have been confirmed dead at the time of writing, with tens of thousands still missing. We express our condolences to the families of the victims and reiterate our solidarity with friends at PEN Türkiye and Kurdish PEN.
We also protest, in the strongest terms, the censorship and media control being deployed by Türkiye’s government in the wake of this disaster. We urge the authorities to respect the crucial need for access to sites such as Twitter, TikTok, Google, and Facebook, particularly when vital solidarity activities are being organised online.
We support the Journalists’ Union of Türkiye who are recording and protesting the prevention of journalists fulfilling their role, and Türkiye -based NGO Media Law Studies Association’s co-founder, lawyer Veysel Ok, who has launched a criminial complaint against mobile network (GSM) operators and the executives of the Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK) for “misuse of public duty”, “prevention of communication”, “reckless killing” and “reckless injury.”
PEN Norway’s President, Kjersti Løken Stavrum denounced the restriction of internet access in Türkiye, saying, “The use of social media by victims trapped under fallen buildings in the past week has saved lives. We would urge the government of Türkiye to fully implement and adhere to all constitutional and European Convention-protected rights of its citizens at this time of great need. Media freedom is always important but at times like this it is absolutely indispensable. We send our support and solidarity to all journalists working under these terribly difficult conditions.”
Multiple arrests of journalists have been reported in the wake of the earthquakes, including that of Evrensel journalist Volkan Pekal on 7 February after taking pictures of a state hospital in Adana. Journalists Mahmût Altintaş and Sema Çağlak were also arrested: they were subsequently released, having had their journalist cards confiscated following interrogation.
Criminal investigations have been initiated against two other journalists, Merdan Yanardağ and Enver Aysever, for ‘incitement to hatred or hostility’. Political scientist Özgün Emre Koç was detained for sharing information about the earthquake on social media and was released after being detained overnight. It has come to our attention that only journalists in possession of the turquoise press cards introduced to replace yellow cards in 2018 are permitted to report from the area. However, due to the alleged slow processing and upgrading of said cards, many professional journalists are still waiting for the issue of new turquoise press cards.
Türkiye’s restriction on the dissemination of news at a time when communication is vital to effective emergency relief efforts is absolutely unacceptable. The launch of the divisive ‘Disinformation Reporting application’ – which encourages users to report accounts that share misinformation – came at a time when the whole country and wider world were trying to work to save lives and coordinate support for survivors.
We further urge the government of Türkiye not to use the implemented three month state of emergency period in the affected areas to further deprive citizens of their rights of access to reliable news sources and communication methods. This is a time for adherence to media freedom standards, especially in the lead up to the forthcoming elections.
The undersigned PEN centres will continue to monitor the situation for freedom of expression in south eastern Türkiye during the imposed state of emergency in the affected areas. We wish courage and strength to all those working to support the rights and needs of survivors and victims of this devastating event.
Signatories:
PEN Norway
PEN International
PEN Türkiye
Kurdish PEN
Vietnamese Abroad PEN Centre
PEN Netherlands
Swedish PEN
Danish PEN
Wales PEN Cymru
San Miguel PEN Centre
Croatian PEN
PEN Armenia
PEN Quebec
English PEN
Irish PEN/PEN na hÉireann
PEN Esperanto
PEN Melbourne
PEN Sydney
PEN Lebanon
PEN South Africa
PEN Norway Turkey Indictment Project – new reports
PEN Norway’s Turkey Indictment Project continues with three new indictment reports researched and authored by three leading international human rights lawyers in 2022.
A new analyses of indictments that directly concern freedom of expression in Turkey and particularly target journalists.
The report published today analyses the indictment of June 2020 against journalist Cengiz Çandar.
Read the full report here in English:
PEN Norway_Legal Report on Indictment Cengiz Candar Eng
Çandar is an experienced Middle East expert and columnist who has been a journalist for more than 40 years. The ongoing trial against him is based on a short post he made
on his twitter account on 30 May 2017. The tweet was a message of condolence for the killing of a young woman by ISIS, who was known to the public for the red scarf she wore during the Gezi protests.
As a result of the tweet, Çandar was charged with praising crime and criminals. Çandar is
still being prosecuted.
Lawyer Barbara Spinelli evaluated the indictment against Çandar in the light of Turkey’s domestic law and international law and stated that the indictment does not contain a cause-and-effect relationship and does not relate the evidence to the elements of the offence.
Spinelli underlined that if this practice were to become widespread, it would be impossible to expect individuals in society to speak freely, protected by the law.
Due to the ongoing crisis in the judiciary and deteriorated state of the rule of law in Turkye we will continue to analyse indictments that directly concern freedom of expression in 2023.
