Güler Zere (and more judicial news)

Last evening, in Istiklal Street, Taksim, I happened to witness around a thousand demonstrators protesting Güler Zere’s situation. She is a detainee in Adana prison ill with fourth stage cancer and if she is not released she may die.  A web report claims that Ministry of Justice has just started the release process; let’s hope for the best.

“Stop Sexual Harassment in Police and Gendarmerie”

Güler Zere is a detainee in Adana prison ill with fourth stage cancer. According to a medical report, Zere is in danger of dying and the hospital’s prison

Unfortunately, not good news follow:

Another Prosecutorial Mugging

by Jenny White
…….Now it?s the turn of one of Turkey?s famous actresses, Hülya Avsar, for an interview she gave to a journalist about her Kurdish childhood. The journalist is also under investigation. Bianet is taking a stand:…….

……..Here is the original interview, in Turkish. In this heartfelt interview, Avsar, now a famous actress, examines her life growing up with a Kurdish father and Turkish mother in a Kurdish village, the problems her relatives encountered when they spoke Kurdish in public, the soul-searching it has occasioned in her when she presents a passport that says ?Turkish?, but also the joys of growing up in a close-knit community. ?I?m a hybrid (melez)?, she said. For this interview, she and the journalist are being prosecuted for stirring up ethnic hatred..

Tayyar sentence proves press freedom still under threat
Today’s Zaman
The recent conviction of Star columnist Şamil Tayyar for two articles he penned on the ongoing probe into Ergenekon, a clandestine criminal network nested

Star columnist convicted of libel
Today’s Zaman
A court has fined Star columnist Şamil Tayyar and sentenced him to prison time for violating the right to privacy of Ergenekon suspect and journalist Güler …

Asli Aydintasbas: Turkey?s War on the Press – WSJ.com

By ASLI AYDINTASBAS
About two years ago I was sipping tea in the office on a slow news Sunday when I got a call from security: ‘The police are here. They say they are taking over the newspaper.’