By: Nick Ashdown/The Media Line
[Istanbul] — Police in Turkey have recently detained and investigated several high-profile journalists for critical tweets in the government’s latest crackdown on media freedom.
Dutch freelancer FréderikeGeerdink was taken by police for questioning last week, while local journalists Mehmet Baransu and SedefKabaş were temporarily detained for dispatching unrelated tweets that were critical of government figures.
The latest flurry of actions aimed at journalists comes on the heels of a controversial new bill passed last month that expands police powers and permits officers to detain and search people based on “reasonable suspicion” — without requiring evidence or judicial authorization.
“The recent bill increasing the powers of the police has reopened the door to a regime of arbitrary arrest and police harassment in Turkey,” AlevYaman of the writers’ rights organization PEN International told The Media Line in an e-mail. “As long as these powers are in place, we can expect to see more journalists being detained under similar circumstances in the future.”
Geerdink, who’s written extensively about controversial Kurdish issues, was accused of spreading terrorist propaganda over Twitter. Eight police officers searched her home in Diyarbakir, a rare occurrence for a foreign journalist, and heldGeerdink for three hours of questioning before releasing her.
“It’s a very intimidating method to use,” says Human Rights Watch’s Turkey researcher Emma Sinclair-Webb. “If they really wanted to just question her, they could have called her into the police station.”
Geerdink’s detention was almost simultaneous with a speech by President Erdoğan during which he repeateda recent claim that Turkey has the freest press in the world.
“It is very difficult to take Erdoğan’s statements with any sort of seriousness given the sheer number of journalists in Turkey facing trial under the draconian Anti-Terror Law and Turkish Penal Code,” said Yaman. “Media freedom in Turkey has regressed considerably in recent years as the scope for dissenting and oppositional voices has narrowed as a result of concerted government pressure.”
Baransu, a prominent journalist who writes for the critical daily Taraf and is a supporter of Islamic cleric and Erdoğan opponent FethullahGülen, was detained and later released on December 30. This immediately followeda tweet critical of Erdoğan’s advisor Mustafa Varank, who filed a complaint.
“They are trying to scare people,” Baransu says, claiming the government is attempting to make examples out of him and others. He says the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in particular wants to silence anyone who speaks about the corruption probe that broke in December 2013 and implicated cabinet members. The AKP insists the investigation was part of a plot to overthrow it that was undertaken by Gülen and his followers.
Sinclair-Webb is also concerned with the state’s heavy-handed approach. “A broader pattern is emerging of using police operations following tweets, with the pretext of insults having been made. This is a bullying tactic. It will increase the already chilled environment for free speech in Turkey.”
Baransu says the government is afraid of Twitter because it can’t control what people say on the micro-blogging site. Last March, Twitter was banned for two weeks whileErdoğan threatened to “wipe out” the website.
Baransu warns the recent crackdown is succeeding in its intimidation Twitter users. “People are much more careful on Twitter now. The only ones that don’t have to be careful are pro-government media.”
He warns the criminalization of dissent is starting to extend to ordinary people. On December 24th a 16 year-old boy was arrested on charges of insulting President Erdoğan during a speech at a student protest in which he brought up the corruption scandal linked to the president.
Kabaş, who was detained for a tweet reminding her followers not to forget about the judge who dropped the corruption investigation, says she refuses to be intimidated. “We are not PR people, we are journalists. [Our] job is to be critical of things of public interest. This is the whole idea of being a journalist.”
Kabaş says she’s concerned that the police powers bill could be abused by the government. “This is the question. Are you using your power, all these new regulations, to serve the interest of the public good, or to serve the interest of just one single person?”
Turkey ranks 154 on Reporters Without Borders’ 2014 Press Freedom Index, which calls the country “one of the world’s biggest prisons for journalists.” Freedom House downgraded Turkey’s press freedom ranking from “partially free” to “not free” last year.
In December, dozens of people were taken into custody in raids on Zaman newspaper and Samanyolu television station, bothclosely linked with the movement led by Gülen.