Prosecutor requests shorter jail sentence for Hrant Dink book author

A prosecutor requested a three-year jail sentence for investigative journalist Nedim Sener on a charge of obtaining confidential documents for his book about newspaper editor Hrant Dink’s murder when his trial before an Istanbul court of assizes began on 28 April. Sener had been facing up to 20 years in prison on three separate charges in this trial, but the prosecutor asked the court to dismiss the other two charges: publishing confidential documents and “exposing an official who combats terrorism to the action of a terrorist organisation.” Although the court has yet to issue its verdict, Reporters Without Borders regards the prosecutor’s request as “encouraging.” Nonetheless, despite the considerable reduction in the sentence Sener is facing, Reporters Without Borders believes that prosecuting a journalist for possessing confidential documents is abnormal. Such documents form the basis of an investigative journalist’s work. Journalists should not be prosecuted or forced to reveal their sources. They are not subject to the rules of confidentiality that apply to civil servants or to police or judicial officials. Two other prosecutions have been brought against Sener in connection with his book, entitled “The Dink Murder and the Intelligence Lies.” He is facing a possible 8-year jail sentence in a trial before an Istanbul criminal court and four and a half years in prison in a trial before a court in the Istanbul district of Bakirköy.