Reuter correspondent in Turkish cou

[kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu]

From: Arm The Spirit <ats at etext.org>
Subject: Reuter correspondent in Turkish court case

Reuter correspondent in Turkish court case

    LONDON (Reuter) - Reuters said Tuesday one of its
correspondents in Turkey would appear in a security court in
Istanbul Oct. 12 to answer a charge over a story about the
Turkish military campaign against Kurdish rebels.
    The world news and information organization said in a
statement that Aliza Marcus, 33, an American, had been accused
of ``provoking enmity and hatred by displaying racism or
regionalism.''
    The charge, which carries a maximum jail sentence of three
years, related to a story last Nov. 25 quoting villagers and
human rights activists in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir as
saying forcible evacuation and even torching of Kurdish villages
was a central part of the military's prolonged battle against
Kurdish separatists.
    Editor-in-chief Mark Wood said: ``We stand by our
correspondent and her reporting. The charge against Marcus is
wholly unjustified and we want to see this issue resolved as
soon as possible.''
    The case was filed against Marcus July 13. The government
had previously begun a prosecution against the pro-Kurdish daily
newspaper Ozgur Ulke for carrying a version of the Reuter story.
The next hearing in the Ozgur Ulke case is scheduled for Oct. 5.
    Marcus, who speaks Turkish, was assigned to Istanbul from
New York in April 1994.

Reuter N:Copyright 1995, Reuters News Service