Beatings still method preferred by local officials for silencing journalists

Two physical attacks on journalists in the past month and two ongoing trials have again highlighted the aversion that local authorities in Turkey display towards reporters who try to cover local government corruption. “Local officials in Turkey do not hesitate to beat up journalists who criticise them,” Reporters Without Borders said. “These frequent beatings are unacceptable. We call on the central government to monitor local officials and politicians more closely and to crack down on those who indulge in such behaviour.” The press freedom organisation added: “There should be an investigation into each case of physical violence against a journalist followed by an exemplary trial with the aim of discouraging those who might otherwise continue to attack free expression.” Journalist Haci Bogatekin, the owner of the fortnightly Gerger Kirat, was injured and his camera was broken when he was attacked on 28 July while covering a fire in the village of Budakli at a site used as waste dump by the nearby municipality of Gerger, in the southeastern province of Adiyaman. Bogatekin said he was attacked by Ilhan Karatekin, the mayor’s brother, and four other Gerger municipal employees. Karatekin, who has been arrested, reportedly told Bogatekin during the attack that he and his brother were the masters of Gerger and no one could oppose them. Bogatekin had reported in his newspaper that the Gerger city hall was not paying its employees. This is not the first time that Bogatekin, 58, has been targeted by local officials. He spent several months in detention last year for criticising the regional authorities and for questioning the impartiality of the prosecutor in charge of his case. His son, Özgür Bogatekin, was sentenced on 13 May to 14_ months in prison for a similar reason. In an article posted on the Gergerfirat.net website, he had criticised the prosecutor’s failure to attend a hearing on 30 June 2008 at which it was decided that his father should remain in detention. The latest hearing in the trial of four people accused of attacking and beating up journalist Diya Yarayan was held on 16 July in the southeastern city of Siirt. The court decided to keep the four alleged assailants in custody but it is refusing to investigate the person that Yarayan says instigated the attack, regional social services chief Hifzullah Canpolat. The next hearing has been scheduled for 13 August. The owner of Siirt Birlik, a local newspaper that has long been in great financial difficulty, Yarayan had to be hospitalised after the attack, which took place on 17 February. He had received several threatening letters prior to the attack. The other journalist to be physically attacked in the past month was Durmus Tuna, the owner Söke Gerçek, a local daily based in the southwestern district Söke. Tuna’s arm was broken when he was assaulted by a group of men in front of his eight-year-old daughter on 7 July. Six people are currently being held. After the attack, Tuna said he had been getting constant telephone threats for three months in connection with his investigations into municipal fraud and that Söke mayor Necdet Özekmekçi had personally threatened him and his family with physical violence on 29 June. Turkey is ranked 103rd out of 173 countries in the Reporters Without Borders press freedom index.