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-------------- Forwarded from : Ismet Imset <aoturkey at gn.apc.org> --------------

Feb.3, 1995

*** U R G E N T ***

Istanbul court "outlaws" Ozgur Ulke 

Newspaper continues to print despite ban
Application made to higher court to return verdict

Action-On-Turkey/London

An Istanbul court on Thursday issued a verdict effectively 
banning the publication of the country's leading pro-Kurdish 
daily Ozgur Ulke (Free Country) and ordered the confiscation 
of all of its copies. Newspaper attorneys said  they had 
appealed against the sentence to a higher court on Friday but 
feared the daily could be closed down over the weekend despite 
all efforts. 
   
Unlike previous routine orders for seizure issued by the 
city's prosecutors office, Thursday's verdict was signed by 
the judge of the Istanbul First Justice Court, practically the 
lowest level judicial authority in such cases. It claimed that 
according to evidence compiled against Ozgur Ulke, it was 
determined that this newspaper was a continuation of the Ozgur 
Gundem (Free Agenda) which was closed down by a State Security 
Court the previous year. 

Citing that 24 separate orders for closure had been passed 
against Ozgur Gundem, the verdict signed by Judge Ilyas Tan 
said Ozgur Ulke operated out of the same facilities of the 
defunct newspaper, that its telephone and fax numbers were 
identical, that 102 of its writers were the same and that the 
page layout and contents of reporting and cartoons were also 
of similar nature. 

Tan passed his verdict without a legal defense on part of the 
newspaper and said that under these circumstances, "it is 
obvious that Ozgur Ulke is a continuation of Ozgur Gundem and 
that according to paragraph 2/2 of Press Law article 5680 it 
should be confiscated." 

O.Ulke attorneys said Friday that in practice the 
forementioned article could mean the complete outlawing of the 
newspaper, confiscation of each and every issue and prison 
sentences for its editorial board. An appeal was filed to a 
higher civilian court on Friday to return the verdict and/or 
postpone it until the verdict was ratified by that court. 
Urgent international action is now required to support the 
newspaper. 
   
Background: 

Thursday's decision comes after a massive crackdown against 
Ozgur Ulke. On Nov.30, 1994, Prime Minister Tansu Ciller 
issued a secret decree for the "elimination"of the newspaper 
after which, on Dec.3, 1994, its four-story printing facility 
and headquarters in Istanbul and its Ankara bureau were 
bombed. One person was killed and 18 others were injured in 
the explosions. Yet, Ozgur Ulke continued to print in other 
facilities. In the first week of January 1995, the National 
Security Council took a decision to "prevent the newspaper 
from print" but  emphasized that this should be done "within 
the boundaries of law. As of Jan.6, 1995, policemen started to 
wait outside printing facilities to confiscate the paper as 
soon as it was printed. Copies of the paper were then taken to 
a Prosecutor working around the clock and "inspected." 
Undesirable items, often some three to four pages of the paper 
devoted to human rights, were censored and it had to reprint 
with blank spots.  In several cases, the same issue of the 
newspaper was re-censored three times, each targetting a new 
report. Meanwhile, at least five reporters were detained and 
tortured by the police while its Diyarbakir office was raided 
once. Ozgur Ulke and its alleged predecessor Ozgur Gundem have 
been a major target for Turkish "censorship" often taking the 
form of violent attacks. Prior to this recent "campaign," 20 
Ozgur Ulke reporters and distributors were killed by death 
squads and four reporters were kidnapped. The mutilated body 
of one of the reporters was found weeks later. At least 35 
journalists and workers of the newspaper have been imprisoned 
and 238 issues have been seized. The latest campaign, however, 
is different in context and aims to close down the newspaper 
altogether.