Turkey: Police raids the newspaper Kurtulus again!

[ozgurluk at xs4all.nl]

"Stop Censorship - Initiative For Press Freedom"
temporary fax-number: 
(+32) 2 - 733 7281

Brussels, October 7, 1998

URGENT APPEAL: October 7, 1998, at 1400
Police raid at the editorial office of the newspaper Kurtulus in Istanbul

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,

we have been informed about a police raid on the main office of Kurtulus 
(Liberation), a opposition weekly newspaper in Istanbul, Turkey. The raid is
taking place at this moment. The office is full of police right now. 

As far as we know 24 people have been arrested, among them the foreign
correspondent of Kurtulus in Germany, Nurgül Arzitas. Several of them have
been injured during the arrest. The building is still being searched by the
police and it is to be expected that the property in the building is being
destroyed. The arrested have been brought to the building of the "anti-
terror" branch of the police  in Istanbul - it is probable that they are
being tortured there.   

Kurtulus is a legally registered newspaper in Turkey, but it has been
subjected to ever more brutal attacks by the authorities there. A similar
attack on the newspaper took place in February of this year. At that time
the entire staff of the paper was arrested and mistreated in the "anti-
terror" branch for several days before being formally arraigned in court.
Seven of them spent several months in jail before being released. 

An attack on Kurtulus in the summer of 1997 was prevented: the police
surrounded the building but did not get inside, and protests by people
outside the building as well as protest faxes from organisations and
individuals abroad were a major factor in inducing the police to back off.
We hope that the same thing can be achieved this time before the arrested
people are subjected to further mistreatment.          

If we can get more information from the People's Law Bureau in Istanbul, who
have sent a lawyer to Kurtulus as well, we will inform you immediately.

For "Stop Censorship" Initiative For Press Freedom

Sandra Bakutz


Please fax your protests to the following numbers:

Ministry of Internal Affairs:
Fax: 0090-312-418 17 95
Ministry of Justice:
Fax: 0090-312-425 40 66
Istanbul Chief of Police:
Fax: 0090-212-635 43 81
State Security Court Istanbul:
Fax: 0090-212-258 79 83

and please send a copy to fax: (+49) 221 - 760 28 87 
or fax: (+32) 2 - 733 72 81

Also see http://www.ozgurluk.org/kurtulus for emailadresses from
Turkish embassies etc. There you also find nw images from the latest
police attack against the Kurtulus.

 
-- 
Press Agency Ozgurluk
For justice, democracy and human rights in Turkey and Kurdistan!
Website: http://www.ozgurluk.org                          
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