Two Leftist Radio Workes Arrested Upon "Classified Charges"

Izmir Demokrat Radio broadcast coordinator Nadiye Gurbuz and Istanbul Özgür Radio ex-employee Mine Ozalp arrested following spending three days under police custody.

Gurbuz, Ozalp and two others had been taken under custody, in relation to a police investigation against the illegal Marxist Leninist Communist Party (MLKP) on September 2006. Hacı Çiçek, Sinan Gercek and Metin Ozalp are released after interrogation.   

The allegations remain unknown as the case is regarded as classified by court, lawyers of the defendants told bianet.

Officers from Counter Terrorism Unit of the Istanbul Police Department raided houses of the accused on February 4th. Colleagues of Gurbuz condemned the action, alleging that the police failed to wait for lawyers to arrive before beginning the search.

Ozgur Radio issued a written statement, condemning this act as a part of "the ongoing pressure to silence socialist media".  

In 2006, 23 people have been arrested and tried with jail sentences. Among them were Ozgur Radio editor-in-chief Fusun Erdogan, Atilim newspaper editor-in-chief İbrahim Cicek and news coordinator Sedat Senoglu. Four people had been released since. The trial will continue on February 20th.(EÖ/AGÜ)