Hamamboculeri.org: Alternatif Haber,Ingilizce, 9 Agustos 2002
Turgut Durduran
News About Arrests of Afrika Newspaper Columnists & Editor
Below are several newswires, press releases and comments that appeared worldwide about arrests of Afrika newspaper columnists and editor.
Dear friends of Cyprus, Yesterday Sener Levent, chief editor of the Turkish-Cypriot daily newspaper Afrika (former Avrupa), and the journalist Memduh Ener were arrested after a civil court in Northern Cyprus condemned them to six months of prison because of "offence against the President". Please find below the press release of "Reporters without Borders" with more information about this case. For any questions please don't hesitate to contact us. ^M ^M Best regards, ^M ^M Dorothee Pilavas ^M German-Cypriot Forum (DZF) ^M ^M °°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°° ^M Dorothee Pilavas ^M Deutsch-Zyprisches Forum e.V. ^M Postfach 15 04 62 ^M D-44344 Dortmund ^M Tel./Fax: +49-231-337822 ^M E-Mail: D.Pilavas@t-online.de ^M http://www.dzforum.de ^M ^M °°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°° Press freedom ^M August 9, 2002 ^M ^M ^M ^M International ^M Secretariat ^M Europe desk ^M ^M 5, rue Geoffroy-Marie 75009 Paris France ^M Tél : (33) 1 44 83 84 84 ^M Fax : (33) 1 45 23 11 51 ^M E-mail : europe@rsf.org ^M Web : www.rsf.org ^M www.press-freedom.org ^M TURKISH REPUBLIC OF NORTHERN CYPRUS ^M Two journalists sentenced to six months in prison ^M ^M Reporters sans frontières today voiced its outrage at the six-month jail ^M sentences imposed on two journalists of the Nicosia daily newspaper Afrika, Sener Levent and Memduh Ener , for "insulting" the President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Rauf Denktash ^M ^M "To have jailed these two journalists is worthy of the worst regimes and all the more unacceptable in a country that aspires to join the European Union", Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Robert Ménard said in a letter to the Turkish Cypriot leader. Ménard recalled that "attacks, death threats, confiscation of equipment and fines had failed to silence Afrika (formerly called Avrupa ), which has never hesitated to criticize the policies implemented by the Turkish authorities of Northern Cyprus." He concluded by urging the authorities to release the journalists and drop all further proceedings against them. ^M ^M Levent, the newspaper's editor, and Ener, an editorial writer, were incarcerated on august 8th in Nicosia's central prison after receiving their six-month sentences from a civilian court. They were convicted of insulting the Turkish Cypriot leader in an articled published on 29 July 1999, when the newspaper was called Avrupa .. The article reported a series of facts and ended with an invitation to the reader to choose, on the basis of these facts, which person was "public enemy No. 1". One of the options offered was "Rauf Denktash, President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus". ^M ^M Levent, who is well known for criticizing President Denktash and his ^M policies, had reported having regularly received death threats from paramilitary groups in the past two years. In 2000, he was accused along with three other Avrupa journalists of spying on behalf of the Greek (southern) part of the island, and was held for several days. This occurred after the newspaper criticized the presence of 35,000 Turkish troops in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. ^M On 24 May 2001, a bomb exploded in the building that houses the newspaper's printing press, without causing any injuries. On 9 November, the newspaper's computers were seized on the orders of the Turkish Cypriot judicial authorities on the pretext that it owed unpaid taxes. This came after the newspaper published articles criticizing the threatening tone adopted by Turkish Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit and Foreign Minister Ismail Cem towards the (southern) Republic of Cyprus. On 11 December, a court ordered the confiscation of the newspaper's revenue, an estimated 5,000 million Turkish lira (3,820 Euros) a week. ^M ^M On 12 December 2001, the authorities confiscated furniture and equipment from the newspaper's office and machinery from the printing press. On 15 December 2001, Avrupa closed itself down, throttled by the sentences and the fines, but Levent announced that it would be reborn with the name Afrika , explaining the Cyprus "no longer faces towards Europe, but instead is turning back towards prehistory, towards Africa". ^M ^M ^M ^M Liberté de ^M la presse ^M 9 août 2002 ^M ^M ^M Secrétariat international ^M Bureau Europe ^M ^M 5, rue Geoffroy-Marie 75009 Paris France ^M Tél : (33) 1 44 83 84 84 ^M Fax : (33) 1 45 23 11 51 ^M E-mail : europe@rsf.org ^M Web : www.rsf.org ^M www.press-freedom.org ^M REPUBLIQUE TURQUE DE CHYPRE DU NORD ^M Deux journalistes condamnés à 6 mois de prison ^M ^M Reporters sans frontières s'indigne de la condamnation de deux journalistes du quotidien Afrika, Sener Levent et Memduh Ener, à six mois de prison pour offense au président" de la République turque de Chypre du Nord. ^M ^M "Les attentats, les menaces de mort, les saisies de matériel et les amendes n'avaient pas réussi à faire taire Afrika (ex- Avrupa), qui n'a jamais hésité à critiquer la politique menée par les autorités turques de Chypre du Nord. Avoir emprisonné ces deux journalistes est digne des pires régimes, et d'autant plus inacceptable s'agissant d'un pays qui a la prétention d adhérer à la l'Union européenne", a déclaré Robert Ménard au chef de la communauté turque chypriote, Rauf Denktash. "Nous vous demandons de faire sortir dans les plus brefs délais les journalistes d' Afrika de prison et d abandonner toute poursuite à leur encontre", a ajouté Robert Ménard. ^M ^M Selon nos informations, le 8 août 2002, Sener Levent, rédacteur en chef du quotidien Afrika (ex- Avrupa ), et l'éditorialiste Memduh Ener ont été condamnés par un tribunal civil à six mois de prison et incarcérés dans la prison centrale de Nicosie. Les journalistes ont été condamnés pour offense au président de la République turque de Chypre du Nord sur la base d'un article publié le 29 juin 1999 dans l'ancienne version d' Afrika , intitulée Avrupa .. L'article énonçait une série de faits puis se terminait par un jeu où le lecteur devait choisir, à partir des faits énoncés "Qui est l'ennemi numéro 1"? Une des réponses était : "Rauf Denktash, président de la République turque de Chypre du Nord." ^M ^M Reporters sans frontières rappelle que Sener Levent est connu pour ses prises de position critiques à l'égard du président Rauf Denktash et de sa politique. Au cours des deux dernières années, le journaliste avait régulièrement reçu des menaces de mort émanant, selon lui, des forces paramilitaires. Avec trois autres journalistes d' Avrupa, il avait déjà été accusé, en 2000, d'espionnage au profit de la partie grecque (Sud) de l'île. Ils avaient été détenus plusieurs jours, après que le journal avait critiqué la présence des 35 000 soldats turcs en République turque de Chypre du Nord. Le 24 mai 2001, une bombe avait explosé dans les bâtiments de l'imprimerie du quotidien à Nicosie, sans faire de victimes. Le 9 novembre, la justice chypriote turque avait fait saisir les ordinateurs du journal, sous prétexte d'impôts impayés, en réaction à des articles dénonçant le ton menaçant du Premier ministre turc Bülent Ecevit et du ministre turc des Affaires étrangères, Ismail Cem, à l'adresse de la République de Chypre (Sud). Le 11 décembre 2001, un tribunal avait ordonné de confisquer les recettes du journal évaluées à cinq milliards de lires turques (3 ! 820 euros) par semaine. Le lendemain, les autorités avaient confisqué les meubles et du matériel dans les locaux du quotidien et saisi des machines dans l imprimerie. Le 15 décembre 2001, le quotidien Avrupa s'était sabordé, asphyxié par les condamnations et les amendes. Sener Levent avait annoncé que le quotidien allait renaître sous le nom d' Afrika , en expliquant que Chypre, désormais, "ne se dirige plus vers l'Europe, mais retourne plutôt vers la préhistoire, vers l'Afrique". ^M -- ^M Assistant Europe Desk ^M ^M Reporters sans frontières ^M 5, rue Geoffroy Marie ^M 75009 Paris - France ^M tel : (33) 1 44 83 84 65 ^M fax : (33) 1 45 23 11 51 ^M E-mail : europe2@rsf.org ^M Web : www.rsf.org ANKARA, Aug 8 (AFP) - A Turkish Cypriot court on Thursday sentenced two editors of the opposition daily Afrika to six months in jail each for insulting Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash through the press, a journalist for the newspaper said. The conviction stemmed from an article published in July 1999, entitled "Who is the number one traitor?", which criticized Denktash, the head of the breakaway Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Ali Osman told AFP in a telephone interview. Afrika's editor in chief Sener Levent, and the editor who wrote the incriminating article, Memduh Ener, were arrested after the verdict was read and were due to begin their term in prison on Friday, Osman added. The court also imposed a suspended fine of five billion Turkish liras (about 30,000 dollars, euros) on Afrika which will come into effect if the daily again resorts to libel in the next two years, he said. Osman condemned the verdict as one "designed to take revenge on critics of Denktash", but said that it would in no way affect the newspaper's struggle for democracy and freedom in northern Cyprus. "Since we are under occupation in northern Cyprus, there is no press freedom here. We will continue our fight against the occupation and Denktash," he said. Afrika, which was previously called Avrupa, is a harsh critic of Denktash and Turkey, the only country to recognise his breakaway state where it keeps some 35,000 soldiers. The newspaper has regularly clashed with Turkish Cypriot officials, has had its computers seized and has also been the subject of bomb attacks. Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkey occupied the northern third of the island in response to an Athens-engineered military coup in Nicosia seeking to unite Cyprus with Greece. [01] Occupation regime jails two Turkish Cypriot outspoken journalists All the local papers of today (09.08.02) report about the six-month jail sentence passed by an illegal court against AFRIKA/s editor-in-chief Sener Levent and journalist Memduh Ener for an article published in AVRUPA, later renamed AFRIKA on 29.07.1999 under the title ''Who is the number one traitor?'' against the Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktas. Opposition Papers critical of the Sentence passed against the Journalists and say that there is no freedom of thought in the occupied area. On the other hand pro-Denktas papers report that justice was done and that freedom of thought and speech doesn't mean levelling defamation. ORTAM reports that after the reading of the sentence Levent and Ener were arrested and sent to prison to serve their six-month jail term. [06] Opposition journalists jailed in the north THE editor and a journalist of a leading opposition newspaper in the north were yesterday jailed for six months for defaming Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash. Sener Levent, editor of _Afrika_ - renamed from _Avrupa _after an earlier court decision shut the paper down - and reporter Memduh Oner were sentenced to six months in prison for "publishing an article on which carried the risk of harming the presidential authority". The 'court' said the two defendants would have to pay a further five billion Turkish lira ($30,000) if they "commit the same offence afresh". Around 400 libel cases are pending before the 'courts' against Levent and other Turkish Cypriot journalists. On Wednesday, Levent and Oner had been found guilty of libel against Denktash, the Turkish army and Turkey, in an article entitled "Who is the number one traitor?" The article appeared in _Avrupa_ on July 29, 1999. The paper has repeatedly come under physical attack and raids by the authorities and was eventually shut down by a court decision. In order to continue publication, _Avrupa_ (Europe) renamed itself _Afrika_ (Africa). Last week, the Turkish parliament voted to scrap laws making it illegal to criticise the army as part of an EU inspired reform package. [09] Human rights committee supports Turkish Cypriot journalists 1900:CYPPRESS:09 Human rights committee supports Turkish Cypriot journalists Nicosia, Aug 9 (CNA) -- The Committee for the Restoration of Human Rights in the Whole of Cyprus strongly condemns the "jail sentence" passed by an illegal court in Turkish occupied Cyprus against two Turkish Cypriot journalists of the main opposition daily for "defamation" against Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash. The Committee issued a press release saying that it has already made urgent representations to international institutions and will soon proceed together with the Union of Cyprus Journalists in organising several events to protest and condemn the illegal actions of the regime, which deprives Turkish Cypriots of their basic human rights.