Editor of newspaper’s website faces 15 years in prison

Journalist Aylin Duruoglu has spent nearly six months in Istanbul’s Bakirköy prison on totally unfounded charges of belonging to a terrorist organisation, Reporters Without Borders said today. The Istanbul prosecutor’s office requested a 15-year jail sentence for Duruoglu when she appeared in court on 1 October. Duruoglu was accused of belonging to an armed group called the Revolutionary Headquarters after acknowledging, during interrogation by Istanbul counter-terrorism police, that she knew one if its members, writer Ohran Yilmazkaya. Duruoglu told the court she had known him at university and, for that reason, and because he was a writer, she met with him again subsequently. “If I had known he was a member of an armed organisation, I would never have agreed to see him,” she said. “The mere fact of that Duruoglu knew a member of a terrorist group constitutes neither complicity nor evidence of any affiliation, especially if she was unaware that he belonged to this armed organisation,” Reporters Without Borders said. “We call for this journalist’s immediate release.” In the absence of any evidence of criminal activity punishable under the law, Duruoglu’s detention is unjustified and a violation of articles 5.1.c and 5.4 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which Turkey has signed. Arrested on 27 April, Duruoglu edited the daily Vatan’s website, Gazetevatan.com. She also wrote a book entitled “Turkish Baths.” ------------------------------------------------------------ 02.06.2009 - Woman journalist held for past five weeks on baseless charge of link to armed group Reporters Without Borders firmly condemns the detention of journalist Aylin Duruoglu, the editor of the daily Vatan’s website, Gazetevatan.com, for the past five weeks on a charge of collaborating with an outlawed armed organisation. Arrested on 27 April, she is now being held in Istanbul’s Bakirköy prison. “Duruoglu is the victim of inexplicable judicial persecution,” Reporters Without Borders said. “If the authorities want to try her, they should do so without delay and ensure that the trial is fair. In the meantime, there are no grounds for continuing her arbitrary detention, which has already gone on for too long.” In the course of major police operation on 27 April, Duruoglu was arrested on a charge of collaborating with the Revolutionary Headquarters, an armed group on the Turkish government’s list of terrorist organisations, because she knew one if its alleged members, writer and former journalist Ohran Yilmazkaya. They studied together at Istanbul University and, as a journalist, Duruoglu attended the launch of one his books. She denies the charge. Turkey is ranked 103rd out of 173 countries in the latest Reporters Without Borders press freedom index.