"Cumhuriyet keep quiet". Can Erok/PA Images. All rights reserved.Today, in a crowded courtroom in Istanbul, a group of 17 employees of Cumhuriyet newspaper will stand trial, accused of a ludicrous range of charges related to terrorism, some facing up to 43 years in jail. Their real crime? Their journalism for a newspaper that fiercely maintains its independence, that refuses to shy away from criticising the Turkish authorities, even in the face of tremendous pressure, as the country has become the world’s most prolific jailer of journalists.
I witnessed this mockery of justice first-hand two weeks ago, when I travelled to Turkey to monitor the last session of the trial of the ‘Cumhuriyet 17’ on 11th September. Our determined group of observers gathered early that Monday morning, leaving the hotel shortly after 6:30 am to make the 100-kilometre journey outside Istanbul to Silivri, the site of a large prison campus that included a courtroom where the 17 journalists were to be tried that day, in the second hearing of their trial, which had started in July.
It is unclear why that hearing was set to take place so far away, when the previous session and the one to follow would be held in the city centre, but it seemed intended to discourage observers from attending. Regardless, observers were plentiful. Among our international group were activists, lawyers, journalists, diplomats, and politicians, including a Member of the European Parliament. Local supporters were also out in full force: family members, lawyers, NGO representatives, and opposition activists, many of whom did not get in as the courtroom was full.
