Rally to mark jailing of scribes
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
DAILY NEWS photo, Selahattin SÖNMEZ
Colleagues, friends and supporters will demonstrate their solidarity with four Turkish journalists who are still in prison one year after their arrest on charges of participating in an alleged plot to overthrow the government, with two separate protests on March 3 in Istanbul’s central Taksim Square.The first protest, which will gather at 11 a.m., will mark the first anniversary of the arrest of journalists Ahmet Şık and Nedim Şener, who are both suspects in the Oda TV case. The second, at 1 p.m., will be held to mark the first anniversary of the isolation-cell imprisonment of columnist Mustafa Balbay, who was elected as a deputy for the Republican People’s Party (CHP) in the July 12 general elections, as well as journalist Tuncay Özkan. All four journalists are in prison on charges of participating in an alleged plot to overthrow the government.
“It has been exactly one year. One year has passed since the day that brought us, his friends, before the door of the specially authorized court in Beşiktaş. 365 days have passed since our journalist friends’ houses were raided, on claims that they were members of a terrorist organization,” the press release for the Şık-Şener protest read.
A group of journalists and opposition deputies led protests in November 2011 to denounce lengthy detention periods as Balbay marked his 1,000th day in prison on charges of helping to plot a coup to overthrow the government.
