Press releases & protests

WPFC Makes Fund Against Censorship Grant to Turkish Cypriot Journalist
under Judicial Harassment

Reston, USA, Jan. 24, 2007 — The World Press Freedom Committee (www.wpfc.org) —an organization representing 45 press freedom groups from six continents— made a Fund Against Censorship grant to Turkish Cypriot journalist Dogan Harman, editor-in-chief of the Kibrisli newspaper, who faces a prison sentence, a stiff fine and the shutting down of his publication.

The charges stem from an extensive journalistic investigation Mr. Harman has conducted about the allegedly murky dealings of a local businessman, which have inflicted extensive financial damage on several companies and public institutions in his country. Mr. Harman has been critical of the apparent inaction shown by Attorney General Akin Sait and other official agencies during most of this process, and has demanded that an official investigation be conducted at once in order to ascertain whether serious crimes have been committed.

As a result, Mr. Sait felt his honor had been insulted by Mr. Harman and his publication and took the unusual step of personally suing Mr. Harman for criminal defamation by using Criminal Code Cap 154, an obscure and harsh statute inherited from colonial times.

Mr. Harman’s articles have elicited a lukewarm at best response from the very public officials in charge of conducting such an investigation and ignited a campaign of judicial harassment aimed at silencing his criticism of public officials.

The essence of the law used to indict Mr. Harman has its origin in the Roman Empire, which instituted them to shield the emperor from public criticism. Today, they act as a Damocles sword dangling over the collective heads of the news media, forcing them to fulfill their duties to keep the public informed at the risk of being imprisoned and their publications shut down.

“The attempts to silence Mr. Harman and his publication send a disturbing message to all press freedom forces in Turkish Cyprus and abroad,” said WPFC’s Executive Director Mark Bench. “Media outlets like his constitute a vital component to the Turkish Cypriot democracy. Without a free and independent media, government officials and corporate executives cannot be kept accountable and responsive to the rest of society. Without this essential ingredient, transparency and good governance become impossible to achieve.”

International judicial entities such as the European Court of Human Rights and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights have ruled that these laws are in direct violation of the fundamental right to free speech and to a free press, which are consecrated in the Turkish Cypriot Constitution. These institutions also have abundant jurisprudence that supports the concept that public officials should expect more, and not less, scrutiny and criticism from the rest of society.

“This acceptance of being a willing target of the media’s slings and arrows also implies public officials should restrain themselves from invoking these laws in order to silence criticism directed at them,” added Mr. Bench. “In fact, the Turkish Cypriot Constitution, specifically its Article 24, has adopted the essence of these freedom of expression principles emanating from the European Court.”

WPFC claims this judicial harassment against Mr. Harman and his publication directly contradicts the very press freedom principles whose respect is essential for the functioning of a democratic society and urges the Turkish Cypriot authorities to stop at once these efforts to silence Mr. Harman’s voice of independence and immediately drop the charges against him.

WPFC intends that this financial and moral support will accomplish the following goals:

Enable Mr. Harman to continue his defense and avoid imprisonment, the closing of his publication and financial ruin.
Attract both national and international attention to an attempt to silence a responsible journalist by using draconian laws dating back to the Roman Empire.
Send a clear signal to the Turkish Cypriot authorities that their attempts to silence responsible journalists will have international repercussions.
Send a clear signal to the Turkish Cypriot authorities that Criminal Code Cap 154 needs to be eliminated from the country’s legislation.

The Fund Against Censorship provides financial assistance for legal costs to journalists who are the target of judicial harassment and other forms of intimidation. The grant is made by WPFC on behalf of the global Coordinating Committee of Press Freedom Organizations, which includes, in addition to WPFC: the International Press Institute (Vienna, Austria); Inter American Press Association (Miami, USA); International Association of Broadcasting (Montevideo, Uruguay); World Association of Newspapers (Paris, France); Commonwealth Press Union (London, England); North American Broadcasters Association (Los Angeles, USA); International Federation of the Periodical Press (London, England); and the Committee to Protect Journalists (New York, USA).

Since 1977 the World Press Freedom Committee, an international coalition representing 45 press freedom groups throughout the world, has made numerous grants in its cooperative program to help news media and journalists of the developing world and more recently, Asia and Central and Eastern Europe. Each request is well screened, and the success of the program depends upon generous donations from foundations, businesses and individuals.