Reporters Without Borders representatives on Monday attended hearings in two trials in Silivri, 60 km northwest of Istanbul, that have major implications for freedom of information in Turkey.

One is the trial of Kurdish journalists who are accused of being members of an alleged “media committee” created by the outlawed Union of Communities in Kurdistan (KCK). The other is a trial of alleged members of the Ergenekon ultranationalist conspiracy.

“We are here to yet again demonstrate our support for those who have been jailed because of their work as journalists and to point out that Turkey currently holds the world record in this category,” Reporters Without Borders said.

“The Kurdish journalists on trial have been in preventive detention for more than 15 months. In the Ergenekon trial, the journalists Mustafa Balbay and Tuncay Özkan have been in preventive detention for five years. It is unacceptable that the authorities continue to extend their detention.

At a time of historic peace talks between the government and PKK, said the organization "freedom of information is part of the solution. The reforms begun by the authorities must be carried through to the end, until all repressive provisions have been purged from Turkey’s legislation and journalists no longer fear being jailed for doing their work.”

Johann Bihr, the head of RWB’s Europe and Central Asia desk, and Erol Onderoglu, RWB’s representative in Turkey, held a joint news conference yesterday outside the law courts in Silivri together with representatives of the Freedom for Journalists Platform (GÖP) – Ercan Ipekçi, president of the Journalists’ Syndicate (TGS), Recep Yasar, a member of the board of the Turkish Journalists’ Association (TGC) and Kaan Karlioglu, secretary general of the Press Council.

A delegation of Belgian parliamentarians, consisting of Jean-Claude Defossé (ECOLO), André du Bus de Warnaffe (CDH) and Fatoumata Sibidé (FDF), and the German trade unionist Joachim Legatis (DJU) condemned the defendants’ continuing detention and called on the international community to put pressure on the Turkish authorities.

BDP deputy Sebahat Tuncel, the painter Bedri Baykam and the well-known lawyer Turgut Kazan also attended the hearings.

At the hearing in the “KCK media committee” trial, the 12th hearing, the summary of a new indictment was read out. It concerned media assistants Ismet Kayhan and Mikail Barutçu, who are accused of being KCK leaders, and brought the number of defendants to 46, of whom 26 are currently in preventive detention.

For the first time, the defendants were allowed to speak Kurdish in court, to confirm their identity or to defend themselves. “We do not regard ourselves as being on trial,” Ertus Bozkurt said on behalf of all the defendants. “This case has been concocted by the government, media and prosecutors.”

The justice ministry rejected a request by the lawyer Sinan Zincir for the journalists being held in Kandira prison in Izmit (100 km southeast of Istanbul) to be transferred to the prison in Silivri, where the trial is being held.

A university representative told the court that the defendant Ismail Yildiz was sitting an exam in Malatya in 2001 at the moment when he was supposed to have been visiting a PKK camp in Kandil (in northern Iraq). The hearing is to continue until 26 April, when the court will rule on release requests.

The observers hope that the detained journalists will be released, as such a gesture would be consistent with the negotiations currently taking place between the government and PKK.