Injustice in its 500th day

Our Executive Board Chair and lawyer Akın Atalay is spending his 500th day in detention today as part of the trial in which our newspaper’s editorial policy has been subjected to charges. Despite the charges raised having been rebutted, Atalay’s release has been denied under unreasoned and copied interim court decisions. Atalay said at the first hearing of the Cumhuriyet trial, “This paper, today just as in the past, has suffered enmity, threat and intimidation, embargo and oppression from the political rulership. Those holders of power and oppressors have all become history. But this paper is still firmly on its feet.”

 Our lawyer for 25 years

 Akın Atalay, a legal professional of 33 years’ standing, has acted as Cumhuriyet newspaper’s lawyer for more than 25 years. Over this time, Atalay has acted in a defence capacity in legal actions countless people, with Fethullah Gülen numbering among them, have brought against our paper. He was our reporter Ahmet Şık’s lawyer in the Oda TV trial conducted under AKP-Gülen Brotherhood collaboration. Atalay was also the lawyer of sociologist Pınar Selek, who was prosecuted charged with planting the bomb in the Egyptian Bazaar case in which seven people lost their lives in 1998 and who was acquitted twice. He was abroad to attend an event in memory of actor Tarık Akan when the operation against Cumhuriyet newspaper started on 31 October 2016. Following the issuing of an apprehension warrant against him as part of the investigation, he returned to Turkey and was placed in detention on flight risk grounds.

 At the first hearing of the Cumhuriyet trial on 24 July 2017, stressing that the trail was a threat and attack targeting all newspapers and journalists, he said, “This prosecution has two mutually complementary aims. The first is to take over Cumhuriyet newspaper or silence it. The second is to show the end that awaits newspapers and journalists who contemplate or entertain the idea of publishing news undesired by the political rulership and articles that will not be to its liking.”

 Here are some extracts from Atalay’s defence that could well serve as a lesson in jurisprudence:

 Cumhuriyet is a monument

 “This newspaper that has fallen victim to an operation with the wish to secure its surrender, break its resistance and force it to fold is no ordinary paper. It is this country’s longest established and most venerable newspaper, and numbers among its most esteemed newspapers. This paper has a passion for independence and freedom in its roots, history and even its genes. It has paid heavy prices for the sake of these values and journalism. Out of the responsibility imposed by this history and legacy, those working on this paper will not compromise on journalistic values and will not do homage to, bow before or surrender to anyone. It is known that, thanks to this paper’s dogged insistence on informing the people and imparting the truth to the public, our columnists and employees have been slaughtered, subjected to assassinations, murders, attempted lynchings and imprisonment, but it still has not surrendered. This paper is Cumhuriyet newspaper and is a monument to journalism.”

 Until our final breath

 “If there are those who think that an honourable entity possessing and imbued with a rich historical heritage like Cumhuriyet newspaper can have its resistance broken and will bow to fear and oppression and compromise on journalism, they are mistaken. We have the following to say to those who think we will give in: We will stand firm, will not give in and will not bow until we have taken our final breath and until we have fulfilled our duty without ever besmirching the profession of journalism, the profession’s ethical principles and the well-earned respect and honourable past of the entity we represent.”

 The same things are done

 “An invitation came from the European Parliament at the start of 2012 for me to discuss the judicial process in the Oda TV and Ergenekon trials and events within this process. I made a presentation on this subject at the parliament building in Brussels on 31 January 2012. Along with me, Turkey’s permanent representative Ambassador also made a presentation. He defended the practices that had been implemented. I, conversely, spoke of the injustices in the special jurisdiction courts’ practices, the unjust and widespread detentions, the intimidation applied to members of the opposition, the failure for fair trials to be held at these courts and how people were wronged at the hands of the judiciary.

 I have no doubt that I would say the same things about these days that I spoke of that day. Nothing has changed very much. The same things are done and it is only the perpetrators who have changed.”

 The one in power wished it so

 “We have been in detention for months because the one in power today wished it so. I do not know how much longer it will last. But, there are things I do know. We do not accept slavery and we will not abandon our honour, esteem and humanity. We will not succumb to fear. We will not and cannot make a compromise over journalism that will impair the people’s right to acquire information. We will not consent to a dishonourable freedom. I hope that everyone will steer clear of such baseness. You, in the final decision you pass, will also have decided whether or not thinking differently from those in power, criticising, being in opposition and journalism is deemed to be a crime.

 İlhan Selçuk said that everyone sculpts their own statue. Those who work there probably sculpt newspaper’s statues, too. İlhan Selçuk, Uğur Mumcu, Muammer Aksoy, Bayriye Üçok, Ahmet Taner Kışlalı and Onat Kutlar sculpted Cumhuriyet newspaper’s statue at the cost of their lives.

 We, the people from Cumhuriyet standing here in the dock, have assumed the watch over this singular statue.

We are striving to ensure that no stain is left on this statue on our watch. In common with those who came before us, we do not bow to those in power, succumb to fear or betray journalism.

 This comes at a price in this arduous period.

 We are honoured and proud to be paying it.

 That is all!”

 Support visits continue

 Following the release of our Editor-in-Chief Murat Sabuncu and reporter Ahmet Şık, support visits to our paper continue. CHP Istanbul Province Chair Dr. Canan Kaftancıoğlu, Deputy Chair Saniye Yurdakul, Özlem Kınalı, Attorney-at-Law and CHP Şişli Sub-Province Chair Veli Çelik came to our paper’s building in Şişli and conveyed their wishes for a speedy recovery to our Editor-in-Chief Murat Sabuncu. Kaftancıoğlu said, “I came to once more express my wishes for a speedy recovery to dear Murat Sabuncu and Ahmet Şık, who I would not wish to say have been released in the Cumhuriyet newspaper trial but rather have been set free even if late from their captivity, and, in their persons, Cumhuriyet newspaper. We hope that Akın Atalay will also walk free from captivity next week. With the wish, embodied in Cumhuriyet newspaper, for all those who have been unjustly and unlawfully taken captive to gain their freedom.”

 Taş: We want acquittal

 Another visitor to our paper, ÖDP General Chair Alper Taş, in turn, said the following in the statement he made: “We have displayed solidarity for the duration of the court proceedings, because Cumhuriyet newspaper is a pretty pivotal newspaper in terms of press freedom and in terms of freedom of thought. It conducts true journalism. This is why our colleagues have been put on trial. Because his majesty objects to their journalism. They were put on trial because there is no law in the country. In fact, if there were an independent judiciary and if there were a fair judicial system, they would not have spent so long inside. We are happy at their release even if it is late. We also want freedom for Akın Atalay. We demand never again to encounter such trials and for this trial to end in acquittal.”

http://www.cumhuriyet.com.tr/haber/turkiye/942165/Adaletsizligin_500_gunu.html