Beaten to Death by Police 24 Years Ago, Journalist Metin Göktepe Commemorated

* Photos: CHP İstanbul

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Journalist Metin Göktepe, who was battered and beaten to death by police, has been commemorated on the 24th anniversary of his death.

24 years ago today (January 8), Metin Göktepe, a reporter for daily Evrensel at the time, went to Alibeyköy to follow the funeral of Orhan Özen and Rıza Boybaş, two inmates who were killed in Ümraniye Type E Prison in İstanbul. Göktepe was taken into custody here and beaten to death by the police after being taken to the Eyüp Indoors Sports Hall.

A commemoration ceremony was held for Metin Göktepe at his grave in Kemer Graveyard in Esenler at 11 a.m. today.

Along with his mother Fadime Göktepe, the ceremony was also attended by Saturday Mothers/People, Labor Party (EMEP) Chair Selma Gürkan, Republican People's Party (CHP) İstanbul Chair Canan Kaftancıoğlu, Journalists' Union of Turkey (TGS) Chair Gökhan Durmuş, Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions of Turkey (DİSK) Press Union Chair Faruk Eren, Evrensel Editor-in-Chief Fatih Polat, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) Representative to Turkey Erol Önderoğlu, Chamber of Mechanical Engineers Chair Battal Kılıç, DİSK Glass Ceramics Union Chair Birol Sarıkaş, EMEP members, EMEP Youth, Divriği Cultural Association members, several journalists, Göktepe family and several people.

While the workers of Evrensel newspaper laid carnations on Metin Göktepe's grave, people carried the banners "Release arrested journalists", "Journalism is not a crime" and chanted the slogans "Evrensel writes, Metin lives" and "Metin Göktepe is immortal".

'Press is under siege today as well'

Speaking at the commemoration, Editor-in-Chief of Evrensel newspaper Fatih Polat referred to the killing of Göktepe and the ensuing judicial process.

Reminding the audience that in Metin Göktepe's case, it was the first time that a defendant was given a prison sentence and served time behind bars, Fatih Polat stated the following in brief:

"A serious legal struggle was waged in the judicial process. Turkey was toured around for almost one and a half times. Though we did not have our desired result in the end, it was still the first time that a defendant was convicted in a case filed into the death of a journalist.

"Each passing day, it is becoming more and more important to claim journalism. The press is under siege today as well, there are lawsuits of journalists everyday. There are journalists laying claim to the truth despite all this siege.

"When we look back, Metin Göktepe, Uğur Mumcu, Musa Anter, Hrant Dink and many of our colleagues that we have lost - once again - remind us of the importance of truth and laying claim to the people's right of information."

'He will always remind us of this struggle's reality'

Speaking at the ceremony, RSF Representative to Turkey Erol Önderoğlu underlined that not only the dark clouds in the history of journalism, but also the joint struggle for journalism should be called to minds:

"Neither Turkey nor the world is a safe place for journalists. Today, it is of great importance to recall the exemplary solidarity displayed against the murderers of Metin. He will always remind us of the reality of this struggle."

'They keep facing us with the truth'

Attending the commemoration ceremony, CHP İstanbul Provincial Organization Chair Canan Kaftancıoğlu stated the following in brief:

"Metin Göktepe was a journalist and there is journalism of Metin Göktepe. It was him who was doing the journalism 24 years ago; today, it is you who do it. Metin and many others like him were massacred because they tell the truths to the public. Telling the truths to the public had a price back then, it still has today. While we are once again commemorating Metin 24 years after he was massacred, the truths always shine from somewhere when you wage a struggle to tell them to the public. The journalists struggling in the person of Metin Göktepe keep facing us with the truth."

About Metin Göktepe

On January 8, 1996, Metin Göktepe went to Alibeyköy district, to follow the funerals of four inmates who were killed by soldiers in Ümraniye Prison.

He was not let in by the police on the ground that he did not have a press card. He was taken into custody with other hundreds of people and was brought to Eyüp Indoor Sports Hall. While he was being taken into custody, he screamed "I am Metin Göktepe, I am a journalist!" He was beaten to death by police officers while he was in custody.

In the beginning, charges against police officers were denied. The case was transferred to several courts in Turkey for "security reasons".

In 2000, an Afyon court found 5 police officers guilty for murder and hiding evidence of murder, sentencing them to 7 years and 6 months of prison. Another police officer was sentenced to 20 months in prison and 5 months of license suspension after a court of appeals overturned the court's verdict. After the Conditional Release and Postponement of Sentence Law came into power on December 19, 2000, the convicted police officers were released before completing their sentences.

(HA/SD)

* Sources: Evrensel & Mezopotamya Agency