IFEX
Reporters Without Borders
14 May 2013
Reporters Without Borders condemns the drastic restrictions that a
magistrate's court in Reyhanli, a southern town on the Syrian border,
has imposed on media coverage of two lethal car bomb explosions in
Reyhanli on 11 May, outside its town hall and post office.
“The ban imposed by the Reyhanli magistrate's court is
disproportionate and violates the right to information,” Reporters
Without Borders said. “The bombings are among the deadliest in recent
Turkish history. How could information about them not be of general
interest?”
“The judicial authorities are trying to control coverage of a key
story on the pretext of combatting rumours and protecting the
confidentiality of the investigation. We call for the ban to be lifted
at once so that the media can do their work without having to depend on
official communiqués.
“The court's vague and imprecise language also prevents news
providers from assessing the extent of the ban and therefore encourages
self-censorship. In practice, it will prevent the media from reporting
the local population's concerns and criticism of government policy
towards Syria.”
Reporters Without Borders added: “Appealing for national unity is
legitimate, but it should not suppress a democratic debate about the
context or political consequences of the bombings.”
At least 46 people were killed and 100 were wounded in the two car
bombings in Reyhanli, which has been sheltering many Syrian refugees and
which is used as a base by many NGOs operating in Syria. The bombings
have fuelled concern about a regionalization of the Syrian conflict.
Within hours of the two explosions, the Reyhanli magistrate's court
issued its ban on the transmission by print and broadcast media and
Internet users of “any information about the state of the dead and
wounded, and about the investigation”
Posted on the website of the Higher Broadcasting Council (RTÜK), the “publication prohibition” also applies to “detailed images” of the scenes of the bombings and the wounded.
The official grounds for the ban, which was issued in response to a
request by Reyhanli's public prosecutor, are protection of the
investigation's confidentiality and protection of the privacy of the
victims (under article 153 of the criminal procedure code).
The Association of Turkish Journalists (TGC) has called on the
authorities to share all information of general interest with
journalists and to facilitate their “already difficult” task.
Atilla Sertel, the president of the Federation of Turkish
Journalists (TGF), has deplored a “tendency to issue prohibitions that
offer no solution.” He said: “The publication ban will just raise more
questions. It will fuel confusion and misinformation of the public.”
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government, which has been
actively supporting the opposition to President Bashar Al-Assad in
neighbouring Syria, has accused the Assad regime of being behind the
bombings. Damascus has denied the charge.