Turkey: OSCE media freedom representative welcomes release of Tuncay Özkan

Link: OSCE

OSCE media freedom representative Dunja Mijatović today welcomed the release of journalist Tuncay Özkan and urged swift, fair and transparent trials for all imprisoned journalists in Turkey. 

Mijatović’s office yesterday also presented an updated analysis on imprisoned journalists in Turkey.

“I am very pleased to hear that Tuncay Özkan is free,” Mijatović said. “The aggravated life sentence handed down to him last August was of  unprecedented length and severity and a grave attack on free expression and media freedom in Turkey.”

Özkan, former owner of the Kanal Biz television station, was arrested in September 2008. Among the charges brought against him was membership in the alleged Ergenekon organization. In August 2013 Özkan was sentenced to life imprisonment in solitary confinement for attempting “to destroy or prevent the government to operate.”

The releases were made possible with the change in the country’s anti-terrorism laws, which reduced the maximum pre-trial detention period from 10 years to five years. The lawyers applied to the Istanbul 21th High Criminal Court for the releases, instead of the Istanbul 13th High Criminal Court, after Parliament recently abolished the special authorized courts.

“Özkan is only one of many journalists in Turkey who have been imprisoned for what they said or wrote,” Mijatović said. “I urge the authorities to ensure fair and transparent trials for all imprisoned journalists.”

A study commissioned by the Office of the Representative presented yesterday shows that 54 journalists still remain in prison in Turkey.