Sunday, 8 March 2009ISTANBUL and ANKARA - A bureau chief from the Cumhuriyet newspaper and the owner of a news Web site were arrested yesterday by order of the 14th Higher Criminal Court. Some of the Turkish T stations reported that Mustafa Balbay had secret intelligence documents about Iraq and Iran. It is claimed that Mr. Balbay leaked the secret Turkish documents to another country's intelligence services. Balbay said in the custody "I had erased that files, how do you find them".
Balbay and Aydin had been taken into custody for a second time in Istanbul to give additional testimony to prosecutors investigating Ergenekon, a clandestine terrorist organization charged with various attacks and bombings staged for the ultimate purpose of overthrowing the government.
Police on Thursday detained Cumhuriyet Ankara representative Mustafa Balbay and Neriman Aydin, who runs the Social News Web site, both of whom had been detained earlier in the investigation. The two had been released pending trial by the prosecution after their initial detention. The 14th Higher Criminal Court ordered yesterday the arrest of Aydin and Balbay, who were taken into custody by the Istanbul Police Department to testify for a second time on Thursday, after a six-hour interrogation. Balbay was arrested on charges of "attempting to overthrow the constitutional order of the Republic of Turkey."
Balbay and Ayin had been detained on July 1, 2008, along with Ankara Chamber of Commerce (ATO) President Sinan Aygün, retired Gendarmerie Forces Commander Gen. Sener Eruygur and retired 1st Army Commander Gen. Hursit Tolon.
Neriman Aydin, who was detained along with her brother, Kemal Aydin, is being charged with organizing secret meetings of War Academy students as part of Ergenekon's efforts to overthrow the government.
Both Balbay and Aydin were released pending trial after their initial detention last year.
Head of the Contemporary Journalists Association (CGD) Ahmet Abakay criticized the ruling yesterday, believing it to be an attempt to scare off journalists. "It begs the question of whether Balbay is being forced to testify again as part of an attempt to deter journalists, writers and opponents of the case. It looks like government pressure on the media, and it seems plausible to look for an ulterior motive behind his arrest."
Ercan Ipekci, head of the Turkish Journalists Union (TGS) also criticized the arrest. "I think it is pushing the law too far to associate a statement of opinion with an attempt to overthrow the constitutional regime," he said.
Ironically, Ergenekon is believed to be behind a hand grenade attack at Balbay's Cumhuriyet daily in 2006. Prosecutor Kadir Altinisik, who is investigating the case, prepared a 23-page indictment of suspects in the incident in February of this year. Altinisik demands jail terms ranging from eight to 42 years for the eight suspects involved in the attack.
In 2006, hand grenades were thrown at the headquarters of the Cumhuriyet daily. The incident was merged with the ongoing Ergenekon case in which 86 suspects are currently being tried over links to Ergenekon, which is thought to be behind a series of murders and political assassinations that have taken place in Turkey in an attempt to foment chaos and overthrow the government.
A minor, U. E., was captured following the 2008 attack against Cumhuriyet, but two other suspects fled the scene. Suspect U.E. said he and another suspect, O. A., carried out the attack with an order from Bedirhan Sinal. Sinal and O. A. were captured one day after the attack. In his deposition, U.E. said Sinal gave him a weapon and asked him to kill Cumhuriyet daily columnist Ilhan Selcuk when he exited the Cumhuriyet building.
Prosecutor Altinisik demanded a jail term of between 16 years, nine months and 42 years for Sinal for assisting a terror organization, masterminding an attack, producing explosive materials and possessing unlicensed weapons.
Cumhuriyet chief columnist Ilhan Selçuk is also a suspect in the case.
To date 86 suspects have been indicted in the Ergenekon case in a 2,455 page document made public last summer. The trial started in late October of last year. However, since the completion of the first indictment dozens of others have been detained and arrested, though some have been released pending trial.
A new indictment is expected to bring charges against some of the suspects recently detained during the ongoing investigation. It is not clear how many of those who have been arraigned will be included in the indictment or the exact charges they will face in court.
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Sunday, 8 March 2009
JTW and news agencies
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