AUTHOR ON TRIAL FOR EXPOSING SECURITY FAILURES IN

C O N F I D E N T I A L ISTANBUL 000210

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/10/2019
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL OSCE TU
SUBJECT: AUTHOR ON TRIAL FOR EXPOSING SECURITY FAILURES IN
DINK MURDER

Classified By: Consul General Sharon A. Wiener for reasons 1.4 (b) and
(d).


1. (U) The trial of Turkish journalist Nedim Sener of the
daily Milliyet newspaper for "violating the secrecy of
communication" was opened on June 10 in the Istanbul 2nd
Penal Court of First Instance. The indictment prepared by the
Istanbul public prosecutor asserts that in his book, titled
"Hrant Dink Murder and Intelligence Lies," Sener insulted
security officials, attempted to influence the fair trial
process, and violated the "secrecy of communication." If
convicted, he could face from three months to eight years for
each violation, with a potential maximum sentence of 28 years
(according to a statement made by Sener). The press has
pointedly contrasted this potential maximum sentence with
that of Hrant Dink's accused murderer, who faces up to 20
years of prison time because he was a minor at the time of
the murder. After initial statements and a request for
acquittal by Sener, the judge postponed the session to a
future date to provide time for defense lawyers to present
their statements and evidence.


2. (U) According to Dink family lawyer Fethiye Cetin, and
Sener, Sener used only information already publicly
available. Most of the conversations between the security
officials in question were available online, Sener noted, and
Cetin pointed out that most of the information and documents
in the book were included in the files of the Dink case and
were therefore no longer "secret." With reference to the
charge of influencing a fair trial and insulting security
officials, Sener testified that he wanted only to reveal the
truth and enable the public to have access to information
while helping to preserve the respectability and
trustworthiness of state institutions. Cetin contended that
Sener "only did his job" as a journalist. The prosecutor
could have dismissed the case, but did not, she said, which
was "clearly the wrong decision when talking about the
freedom of press in Turkey."


3. (U) Milliyet editor-in-chief and outspoken supporter of
press freedoms Sedat Ergin commented on the newspaper's
support of Sener as an effort for "freedom of press to be put
into effect." The executive board of the Turkish Journalists
Society also issued a written statement saying that Sener's
trial is a "worrisome development," noting the prosecution of
journalists calls into question the strength of democracy in
countries where press freedoms are unattainable. The
executive board of the main opposition Republican People's
Party (CHP) took up the case when it convened yesterday.
Party officials said that the case is an unacceptable
infringement of the right of freedom of expression. CHP
leader Deniz Baykal reportedly instructed party officials to
follow the issue closely.


4. (C) Comment: Given the wide public distribution of the
Dink trial documents, the case against Sener for violating
the "secrecy of communication" and insulting security
officials appears dubious. The seemingly weak legal
foundation for the lawsuit, combined with the fact that the
Turkish judiciary has traditional statist ties to CHP may be
an early indication that Sener's case could follow an
increasingly common pattern where prosecutors open
contentious cases against writers, and then the court either
acquits the defendant or reduces a jail sentence to a
monetary fine. End comment.
WIENER