Erhurman ‘to veto’ north law criminalising naming of high-profile crime suspects

Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman is to veto a law passed by the Turkish Cypriot legislature last week which criminalised the naming of high-profile individuals who appear in court accused of crimes, according to reports on Wednesday.

Newspaper Yeniduzen reported that Erhurman will send the law back to the legislature, which will then debate it again in the coming days.

Erhurman had said last week that he was “closely following discussions” on the matter, and that his office was set to “consult with all relevant parties and evaluate all opinions”.

“It is known that, in light of these evaluations, if deemed necessary, the presidency will not hesitate to exercise its constitutional powers, as it has done in previous instances,” he said, hinting at the possibility that he may veto the law.

The law had introduced jail sentences for those, including journalists, who take and publish photographs of suspects in and around courtrooms, or who publish the names of defendants, in the media or on social media, with the maximum sentence set at three months in prison or a fine amounting to four times the north’s monthly minimum wage.

At present, the north’s monthly minimum wage is 60,618TL (€1,144), with the fine as such set, for now, at 243,272TL (€4,577).

Opposition members had warned at the time that the law could have negative implications on the state of press freedom in the north, with the CTP’s Sami Ozuslu saying that “today, we boast that our journalists are not going to jail, but if this bill passes, the picture will change”.

“You are threatening them with prison. This will turn into an operation to silence journalists,” he added.

Others also expressed their opposition to the bill after it was passed, with former Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci saying that “one cannot remain neutral on issues such as democracy, human rights, and freedom of the press and expression”.

“Not taking a stand on such matters draws the colour out of matters and fuels an appetite for deep darkness. A society where the press is silenced by fear cannot have a bright future,” he said.

Former Turkish Cypriot chief negotiator for the Cyprus problem Kudret Ozersay, meanwhile, lamented that the law had been passed “in a period in which corruption, fraud, bribery, and decay have increased and been exposed to such an extent”.

“This law change aims to prevent journalists from writing about these scandals and to prevent the public from knowing the full names or seeing the photographs of those accused,” he added.

He then said that “it is very clear that they want to both protect the politicians who will be tried in the near future and to intimidate and silence those who want to inform the public about it”.

However, not everyone was against the new law, with Cyprus Turkish bar association chairman Hasan Esendagli expressing his support for it during an appearance on public television channel BRT.

“The courts were out of control. It constitutes a violation of rights to corner people who have been declared guilty before they face trial, exposed, and who have been put in personally difficult situations, in court corridors, and have their photos taken,” he said.

The law’s passage came after multiple high-profile figures in the north have appeared in court and been charged with crimes in recent months, including former ‘education minister’ Kemal Durust, former Famagusta police chief Baris Sel, ‘prime minister’ Unal Ustel’s close personal associate Fatma Unal, Ustel’s now former undersecretary Huseyin Cahitoglu, the now former chief of the north’s tender commission Salih Cansec, the son of ruling coalition representative Hasan Tosunoglu, Ugur Tosunoglu, former chairman of the north’s higher education accreditation authority (Yodak) Turgay Avci, and board member Mehmet Hasguler, who is now the chief advisor of ruling coalition party the YDP.