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RSF, Paris, 24 Aug 2004 -- Reporters Without
Borders has protested that a one-month suspension
imposed on a local radio was "too harsh and once
again completely disproportionate".
The Istanbul-based Özgür Radyo went off the air on
18 August 2004 in response to the 30-day ban ordered
by the broadcast council (RTUK).
"The RTUK appears to be ignoring democratic reforms
undertaken in the connection with Turkish membership
of the European Union," the organisation said. "It
carries on censoring at will those media it doesn't
like."
"The supreme power of this body remains a major
stumbling block to press freedom in the country",
Reporters Without Borders added. It called on the
State Minister for the press, Besir Atalay, to
intervene so that the RTUK could reconsider its
decision.
Özgür Radyo was accused of "incitement to violence,
terror and discrimination on the basis of race,
region, language, religion or sect or broadcast that
gives rise to hatred in society" under Article 4 of
RTUK's Law 3984.
The RTUK sanctioned the radio for referring in a
press review to the front page of the 27 August 2003
issue of the daily Günlük Evrensel that said police
in plain clothes had "massacred" members of the
Democratic People's Party (DEHAP) during a wedding
in Adana, in the country's south.
The RTUK suspension ruling was made on 24 February
2004. The station appealed to an Ankara
administrative court that upheld the sentence on 9
June this year. The RTUK has the power to revoke the
radio's licence in the event of further offences.
The broadcast council regularly announces sanctions
against media that are either pro-Kurd or highly
critical of the government, ranging from warnings to
revoking of licences.
In one instance, local Günes TV in Malatya, in the
east of the country, had to stop broadcasting for a
month from 20 March 2004. The RTUK had accused it of
"harming the existence and independence of the
state, the indivisible unity of the state from its
people and the reforming principles of Ataturk"
(Article 4 of RTUK's Law 3984).
On 22 May 2003, a journalist, who was instantly
sacked by the station, had offered his sympathy to
the family of a young extreme-left militant who died
after accidentally detonating an explosive charge
she was carrying.
RTUK invoked the same article to suspend local ART
television in Diyarbakir in the south-east for one
month on 1 April 2004 for broadcasting two Kurdish
songs on 16 August 2003.
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