The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its European group,  the  European Federation of Journalists (EFJ)  have today expressed their shock following terrorist charges against Vedat Kursun, former editor of a Kurdish-language newspaper, who risks a 525-year  jail  sentence if convicted.

"We are shocked by these outrageous charges which purport to turn the role of journalists in reporting about terrorist organisations into a crime," said EFJ President Arne König. "It is part of European standards of freedom of expression to be able to report on political organisations or movements even if they are banned".

On 19 February the Diyarbakir High Criminal Court in Turkey charged Vedat Kursun, former editor of  the  Kurdish daily, Azadiya Welat, with 105 counts of "helping and abetting the PKK organization by spreading propaganda" and "glorifying crimes and criminals "  in  several articles published  in his newspaper.  These charges come just less than two weeks after Kursun's successor as editor, Ozan Kilinc, was also convicted and sentenced on 12 February to 21 years imprisonment for similar charges.

Kursun was arrested in January 2009 in Istanbul and spent the last 13 months in Diyarbakir Prison, in the southeast of Turkey, awaiting his trial.

Prosecutors accused Kursun of disseminating propaganda for the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) by publishing stories on the statements and activities of the organisation. However Kursun argues that he is not a member of PKK and maintains that information or comments he published are serving the right of the public to know.

"Turkish laws do not allow journalists to do their jobs freely. Journalists have to choose between self-censorship or facing arrest and imprisonment without judgment. It means execution without due process. In democratic societies, it should not be so easy to blame journalists for terrorism propaganda or being a member of a terrorist organisation. These applications restrict freedom of press and freedom of expression in our country. We refute these allegations and condemn prosecutions of journalists," said Ercan Ipekci, President of the EFJ affiliate Turkiye Gazeteciler Sendikasi (TGS).

The IFJ and EFJ also say that Turkish justice and the authorities should stop harassing media with repressive anti-terrorism laws that undermine press freedom in the country.

The EFJ is involved in a joint project with the TGS on enhancing press freedom in Turkey. In this regard, the TGS has issued a Monitoring Report on breaches of press freedom in Turkey showing that 44 journalists and media workers are currently in jail, most of them awaiting trial. The EFJ will also hold its General Meeting in Istanbul on 16-18 April 2010. Press freedom in Turkey will be discussed during a special session with an intervention of Heidi Hautala, Chairwoman of the Sub-Committee of Human Rights of the European Parliament.

TGS Monitoring Report is available here: http://www.tgs.org.tr/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=47&Itemid=49

For more information contact the EFJ at +32 2 235 2215 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting            +32 2 235 2215      end_of_the_skype_highlighting
The EFJ represents over 250,000 journalists in over 30 countries in Europe