A human rights activist was sent to court on June 20 for arrest after
supporting a campaign in solidarity with Turkish daily Özgür Gündem,
which was started on World Press Freedom Day, news portal Bianet has
reported.
Turkey Human Rights Foundation (THIV) head Prof.
Şebnem Korur Fincancı was sent to court for arrest on charges of making
terror propaganda when she served as the editor-in-chief of Özgür Gündem
for one day on May 29 as a part of the “Editor-in-chief on Duty”
campaign.
Financı called the decision “an effort to break solidarity.”
“This
is an expected situation. It is also disturbing to send people to court
for arrest by hand-picking [them],” Financı told Bianet.
Meanwhile, Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) Turkey representative Erol Önderoğlu and journalist Ahmet Nesin also testified to the terror and organized crimes prosecutor for taking part in the campaign.
A
total of 44 prominent journalists, including Hasan Cemal, Şeyhmus
Diken, Tuğrul Eryılmaz and Ayşe Düzkan served as one-day
editors-in-chief during the campaign, while 37 of them were probed for
their support.
Özgür Gündem started the campaign on May 3 to
provide solidarity and defend press freedom against a number of
investigations it faced.