EU To 'Very Closely' Follow Baransu Case

The European Union has announced that it will “very closely” follow the case of Taraf journalist Mehmet Baransu, asking for an independent and transparent investigation.

Baransu, who has been in the spotlight for being publicly targeted by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on numerous occasions, was arrested on Monday on charges of obtaining classified state documents. His arrest came after his sixth detention in the past year, a move that has invited rebuke from the European Parliament (EP). Greens leader Rebecca Harms said Baransu's arrest was yet another example of the government's relentless efforts to gag the media in Turkey and an illustration of Justice and Development Party (AKP) leaders' threats against journalists.

In response to a question, the press office of European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Commissioner Johannes Hahn said they expected that Baransu would benefit from an independent and transparent investigation/trial with full respect to his rights.

Baransu was one of the few journalists who were strongly praised by the government when the AKP was in a fateful struggle to curb the powers of the military. Baransu has been instrumental in publishing many details of attempted coups starting in early 2003, right after the AKP's electoral victory.

Hahn's office reminded the Turkish government of the European standards regarding the principle of freedom of expression and underlined that limitations to freedom of expression should be enforced in exceptional cases only. “As a general principle, we would like to recall the well-known European standards giving each citizen the right to freedom of expression, notably the European Convention on Human Rights [ECHR] and the Charter of Fundamental Rights. Any limitations to freedom of expression should be exceptional and proportionate and in line with the ECHR and the case law of the ECtHR [European Court of Human Rights],” the statement said.

The European Union and international media watchdogs have been increasingly vocal in criticizing and condemning the AKP government's crackdown on free media in Turkey. The EP adopted a resolution on media freedom on Jan. 15 condemning the arrest of Samanyolu Broadcasting Company head Hidayet Karaca and Zaman Editor-in-Chief Ekrem Dumanlı.

In its annual progress report on Oct. 8, the European Union has strongly criticized the Turkish government for curtailing media freedom.

“Statements by state officials had an intimidating effect on [the] media and press and led to investigations by public prosecutors, i.e., against editors and journalists. Moreover, state officials themselves continued to launch court cases against journalists and writers, some of them ending with prison sentences. This, together with numerous dismissals of journalists, as well as the high concentration of media ownership in the hands of business conglomerates with interests going far beyond the free circulation of information, continued to lead to widespread self-censorship by media owners and journalists, including on issues of public interest, such as corruption allegations. The fact that the government is responsible for issuing a press card, granting the status of an accredited journalist, and the excessively strict requirements to obtain it -- excluding categories of people who may otherwise fit the description, including young journalists, freelancers and the online media -- contribute to self-censorship,” the report said.

Selçuk Gültaşli, Brussels (Cihan/Today's Zaman)