A Turkish
court has banned reporting on a parliamentary probe into corruption allegations
against four ex-ministers in Recep Tayyip Erdogan's previous cabinet. Turkey's
opposition says the move protects "thieves."
Deutsche Welle, 26 November 2014
Turkey's
Supreme Board of Radio and Television (RTUK) told Turkey's media on Wednesday
that they were banned from reporting on a parliamentary inquiry into corruption
allegations against four former ministers.
Media were
also told that they face penalties for violating the prohibition and that the
prohibition remained in place until December 27.
In a
statement on its website, the RTUK said the ban was necessary because some
media reports had "violated the confidentiality of the investigation and
the principle of presumption of innocence."
Scores
detained last year
Last
December, police investigating illegal building permits awarded in Istanbul
detained scores of suspects.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the prime minister at the time of the arrests and then the
winner of Turkey's presidential election in August, has repeatedly claimed that
the parliamentary probe was part of an attempted "judicial coup" by
the US-exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen. The Islamic cleric has denied involvement.
The
interior, environment and economy ministers - respectively: Muammer Guler,
Erdogan Bayraktar and Zafer Caglayan - stepped down in December 2013 after
police rounded up their sons on charges of bribery linked to construction
projects and illicit money transfers to neighboring Iran.
As prime
minister at the time, Erdogan also removed from his cabinet the-then EU affairs
minister Egemen Bagis.
Smuggled
gold?
Investigators
alleged that Caglayan, for example, took a 210,000-euro Patek Philippe watch to
facilitate smuggling of gold to Iran in breach of international sanctions
imposed over its controversial nuclear program.
He paid a
fine of 250,000 Turkish liras ($110,000/90,000 euros) for "violating the
customs and import regulations," the state-run Anatolia news agency
reported on Monday. Prosecutors have since dropped the charges against the 53
individuals named, but the commission of inquiry is still set to carry out its
probe.
IPI: gag order on #Turkey corruption inquiry likely to harm principles it seeks to advance http://t.co/JN0h8nnEMH @ekizilkaya @KadriGursel
— FreeMediaFreeWorld (@globalfreemedia) November 26, 2014
'Protecting
thieves'
Turkish
courts frequently block coverage of controversial issues. In July, Deputy Prime
Minister Bulent Arinc said courts issued 150 gag orders in four years.
Officials
say the latest commission, however, has failed to summon the suspects and
witnesses involved in the corruption investigation to give their testimonies,
and accuse members of parliament of seeking the ban for their own personal and
professional reasons.
In the summer, the government ordered the arrests of several investigating officers |
The Turkish
Journalists' Association has called the ban censorship.
Opposition
leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu publicly accused parliament speaker Cemil Cicek of
asking for the ban, though the head of the commission, dominated by Erdogan's
Justice and Development Party, said that he had called for the ban.
"Since
when has parliament taken the role of protecting thieves?" Kilicdaroglu
said on Wednesday.
Newspapers
to defy ban
Some
left-leaning media have vowed to defy the ban. The newspaper Cumhuriyet has
promised "twice as much news."
Erdogan,
now the head of state, has recently found himself in hot water over comments
that many took as being anti-feminist.
Turkey's
successor regime, still very loyal to its former prime minister, has sought to
expand the government's policing powers.
mkg/ (Reuters, AFP)
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