Ahmet Şık

Ahmet Şık (IPA: [ähme̞t̪ ʃɯk]; born 1970, Adana) is a Turkish investigative journalist, author of several books, and a trade unionist.[1] His book The Imam's Army, investigating the controversial Gülen movement of the Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen, led to his detention for a year in 2011–2012 and the book being seized and banned. He remains under indictment in the OdaTV case of the Ergenekon trials; his cause has been taken up by English PEN, an association of writers fighting for freedom of expression.[2]

Career

Şık graduated from the Journalism department of Istanbul University, Faculty for Communication.

Between 1991 and 2007, Şık worked for several newspapers such as Cumhuriyet, Radikal, Evrensel, and Yeni Yüzyıl. He has also worked at Nokta magazine and Reuters News Agency as a photo journalist. He turned to academic work when he was dismissed for his trade unionist activities.[1] In 1998, he was hospitalized "after a pro-police mob, furious about a murder conviction against several cops in a torture case, attacked the victim’s lawyers, the prosecutor, and journalists. In 2009, he fled the country for a year, fearing officials who had been targets of his reporting."[3]

Ahmet Şık is a member of the Turkish Journalists' Union (Turkish: Türkiye Gazeteciler Sendikası, TGS) and the Association of Contemporary Journalists (Turkish: Çağdaş Gazeteciler Derneği, ÇGD). In dailies, weeklies, and monthlies, he has published on human rights, journalism, and professional ethics.[1]

Legal charges

Article in Nokta

On 2 April 2008 Lale Sarıibrahimoğlu (columnist in the daily Today's Zaman, also known as Lale Kemal) and Ahmet Şık were acquitted of charges of insulting the military under Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK), which penalizes the denigration of “Turkishness” or the Turkish army. Bakırköy 2nd Court of First Instance in İstanbul ruled that the article titled “The military should withdraw its hand from internal security” in the 8 February 2007 edition of weekly Nokta should be evaluated as “harsh criticism” and its publication does not constitute a criminal offence.[4]

Kırk katır, kırk satır

In June 2010, after the publication of the two-volume book Kırk katır, kırk satır, Şık and his co-author Ertuğrul Mavioğlu were indicted on charges of "breaching confidentiality of the documents" relating to the Ergenekon trials, with the prosecutor requesting a term of 4 years and 6 months.[5] The authors were eventually acquitted in May 2011.[6]

The Imam's Army

Main article: The Imam's Army

The Imam's Army (Turkish: İmamın Ordusu) is a book by Şık investigating the life and work of Fethullah Gülen and his Gülen movement. Şık was detained in March 2011, before the book was published, and the draft book was seized by the government and banned. Şık was detained pending trial, being eventually released pending trial in March 2012. In the interim, in an act of anti-censorship defiance, a version of the book was released in November 2011 under the name 000Kitap (000Book), edited by 125 journalists, activists and academics, and published by Postacı Publishing House.[7]

The Imam's Army release comments

On 30 July 2012, an Istanbul court accepted a new indictment against Şık, charging him with threatening and defaming civil servants for their duties.[8] The charges, for which the prosecutor is seeking a penalty of up to seven years imprisonment, are based on a declaration Şık gave to the press immediately upon his release from Silivri prison, in which he stated, "The police, prosecutors and judges who plotted and executed this conspiracy will enter this prison."[8]

Books

Awards

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Details on this website; accessed on 11 April 2011
  2. ↑ English PEN, 14 March 2013, Turkey Focus 2013: Ahmet Şık
  3. ↑ Stephen Franklin, 2 January 2013, Columbia Journalism Review, Where truth is a hard cell
  4. ↑ "Journalists Sarıibrahimoğlu and Şık acquitted from 301 case". Today's Zaman, 3 April 2008; accessed on 11 April 2011.
  5. ↑ 24.06.2010 Daily Human Rights Report
  6. ↑ Radikal, 13 May 2011, Şık ve Mavioğlu'na beraat!
  7. ↑ Hurriyet Daily News, 16 November 2011, Banned book goes on sale in Istanbul book fair
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 30 July 2012 (30 July 2012). "Journalist Ahmet Şık Facing More Charges in Wake of his Release". Bianet. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
  9. ↑ "UNESCO awards Ahmet Şık annual press freedom prize". Committee to Protect Journalists. April 11, 2014. Retrieved April 11, 2014.

External links