新闻工作者受审，土耳其新闻自由受关注

In a packed Istanbul courthouse the trial of 17 journalists, accused of being involved in July’s failed coup, got underway Monday. All are facing long sentences, including life if convicted.

Prosecutors allege the journalists belong to a network of followers of the U.S. based Turkish Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen, who Turkey\'s government blames for the coup attempt.

Nazli Ilicak is a leading newspaper columnist who rejected the accusations, telling the court she was a supporter of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan before he came to power and spent her life opposing coups, pointing out her father was a senior minister who had been jailed following a 1960 military takeover.

The first three hours of Monday’s hearing was taken up reading the more than 200 page indictment. Much of the cited evidence made no reference to the journalists activities, but focused on the cleric Gulen.

Many international and national human rights groups attended Monday’s hearings. "It\'s very concerning people are really facing serious charges, with potentially three life sentences on the basis of very, very little evidence of criminal acts, and that\'s really worrying,” warned Amnesty International’s Milena Buyum, speaking after attending the first day of hearings,

Human rights groups accuse Turkey of being the world\'s worst jailor of journalists, with more than 170 incarcerated since the post coup crackdown. Monday’s hearing is likely to only add to questions over the legitimacy of that crackdown.

But before the trial Erdogan dismissed such criticism, "Whenever we go abroad, Western media outlets come up with the same argument, claiming there are many detained journalists in Turkey. However, according to figures from our Ministry, only two people out of 177 who identify themselves as journalists are holders of a press card. In addition, one of these persons is currently in jail for murder and the others for their involvement in terrorist organizations," Erdogan said in a speech Saturday to national media heads.

The president went on to warn there would be no let up in the crackdown, “I see no difference between those who sell their news headlines with the instructions of a terrorist organization and those who take to the mountains with a gun in their hands,” said Erdogan.

检方指责这些新闻工作者隶属于现居美国的伊斯兰教士费特胡拉·居伦的追随者网络。土耳其政府认为这次未遂政变就是由居伦发动的。

一家大报的专栏作家纳兹里·里卡克对她的指控予以否认。她告诉法庭说，土耳其总统埃尔多安上台前，自己一直是埃尔多安的支持者，而且一辈子都反对政变。她指出，她父亲曾是一名高级部长，后来就是在1960年军方夺权后被监禁的。

星期一庭审一上来花了三个小时的时间诵读200多页的起诉书，提出的证据大多没有涉及这些新闻工作者的活动，而是集中在伊斯兰教士居伦身上。

很多国际和国内人权团体都出席了星期一的庭审。国际特赦的玛丽娜·拜耶姆在第一天庭审结束后说：“这些人面临严重指控，有的面临三个终身监禁，而却没有什么可以证明他们刑事犯罪的证据，这种情况令人担忧。”

人权组织指责土耳其是世界上监禁记者最恶劣的国家，政变未遂以来，已经有170多名新闻工作者被关押。星期一的庭审会给镇压行动的合法性带来更多的问题。

然而，土耳其总统埃尔多安在这次庭审前，就对这些批评予以了驳斥。他星期六向全国媒体负责人讲话时说：“我们不论什么时候到国外去，西方媒体都会提出同样的问题，说土耳其关押了很多新闻工作者，但是根据我们的数字，177个自称是记者的人当中，只有两个人持有记者证，其中一个人还是因为杀人入狱，其他人则是因为参加恐怖组织的活动。”

埃尔多安还警告说，镇压行动不会放松。他说：“在我看来，按照恐怖组织的指令出卖新闻，而拿着枪进山的人，是没有区别的。”

埃尔多安的话立即引起了媒体的批评。土耳其新闻委员会负责人说：“我们已经习惯了埃尔多安的这些声明。大家愿意怎么说都可以。被关押的新闻工作者之所以被关押是因为他们的采写行为，因为他们挖掘新闻，因为他们寻找事实。”