OSCE envoy voices worry on journalists

Sevil Küçükkoşum ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News

As international bodies increasingly voice concerns on freedom of press, imprisonment of journalists and Internet restrictions in Turkey, an OSCE representative is currently having talks with Turkish officials, jailed journalists and civic society over the issue.

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Representative on Freedom of Media Dunja Mijatovic will visit imprisoned journalists Nedim Şener and Ahmet Şık tomorrow in a bid to draft a report on freedom of press in Turkey.

Following her talks with Turkish authorities in Ankara this week, Mijatovic will meet with NGOs in Istanbul and hold a press conference. Mijatovic’s report will include her recent observations on the applied Internet restrictions in Turkey.

The OSCE representative expressed concern following a Constitutional Court decision earlier this year that allows prosecutors to file criminal cases against journalists years after their articles were published.
She asked Turkish authorities to bring the country’s media legislation in line with OSCE commitments on media freedom following her office’s release of a study showing 57 journalists were imprisoned in Turkey in April. In a letter to Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu in April, Mijatovic expressed concern about the Turkish government’s plans to introduce mandatory content filtering for all Internet users.

“This regulation would limit the right of individuals to access information they want and impose regulation of Internet content by the authorities,” Mijatovic’s letter said.