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Turkey: DIHA reporter to stay in prison
26.6.2006
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Tunceli courts reject appeal
for release of DIHA reporter Rustu Demirkaya who was
arrested for "aiding the PKK". Journalist to be
tried in Malatya. RSF calls for "temporary release".
BIA, (Tunceli), Kurdistan-Turkey, --
Initiatives to release from prison Dicle News Agency
(DIHA) reporter Rustu Demirkaya failed last week
when two courts in Tunceli rejected the appeals.
Demirkaya was placed under arrest on June 14, based
on allegations made against him by a “repentant”.
Demirkaya’s attorney Baris Yildirim after the failed
appeals at the Tunceli Criminal Court of Peace and
the Tunceli Court of First Instance, they would make
a new appeal for his release once the journalist’s
file reaches the Malatya 3rd High Criminal Court
where he will be put on trial.
The reporter is being accused of “aiding and
abetting” the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK)
based on allegations made by organization member
Engin Korumcu who surrendered to security forces and
became a state confessor. Korumcu claimed Demirkaya
had met with the PKK’s rural leaders and passed them
information and other material.
RSF: Release him temporarily
Paris-based Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF/Reporters
Without Borders) had appealed previously for
Demirkaya to be released temporarily until his trial
began.
RSF said a temporary release would not negatively
affect the case and noted that many Kurdish
journalists were being accused of “assisting the PKK”.
The DIHA Agency and other pro-Kurdish publications
such as "Azadiya Welat", "Ulkede Ozgur Gundem" and "Yeni
Ozgur Politika" newspapers as well as "GunTV" that
airs out of Diyarbakir have protested the arrest of
Demirkaya who had previously faced various problems
in covering news reports in Tunceli and surrounding
areas.
Reporter Demirkaya was previously detained together
with three other journalists and five activists
while covering the human rights delegation that on
August 4, 2005, received kidnapped private Coskun
Kirandi from the PKK. The group was put on trial in
what has come to be known as the "Kirandi case"
charged with "conducting the propaganda of the
organisation and its goals". The next hearing of
this trial is listed for September 8, 2006.
Demirkaya was also placed under custody on the
evening of May 4, 2005, for reporting on the
criminal complaint against Tunceli's Provincial
Gendarme Regiment Commander Namik Dursun who was
allegedly involved in swindling. He was released
after being questioned.
bianet org
Southeastern Turkey:
North Kurdistan (
Kurdistan-Turkey) wikipedia
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