The kind of reporter democracy demands

Şener will exit the courtroom joking that at last he will enjoy some time off. When the cell door slams shut, Şener, no doubt whistling to himself, will put up his feet and pop open a novel or a sports magazine. We pity his jailers, who will have to put up with endless complaints about the softness of his pillow or the ambience in his cellblock.

That’s the kind of reporter Şener is: fearless, funny and ready to put up with anything in pursuit of the truth. As do many in Turkey, we admire Şener for his journalism. We also admire him for his wit, his humor and his swaggering savoir-faire.

But these latter virtues should not be a requirement for carrying out a vital task in any democracy: reporting the well-researched facts that the public has a right to know. As we reported yesterday, Şener has brought to light intelligence failures on the part of the security agencies that may have contributed to the murder of Dink, a Turkish journalist of Armenian origins.

Like much good reporting, there was nothing actually new in what Şener wrote. A tireless researcher, Şener simply surveyed a wide range of sources. The material that landed him in court was already in the public domain, present on various Internet sites and in chat rooms. No one has accused him of fabrication. No one has accused him of stealing the documents he quoted. But for his repeating for a larger audience material that had already been reported in obscure places, Şener is charged with turning anti-terrorism officials into targets and insulting government officials.

The Istanbul Prosecutor’s Office is seeking to put Şener behind bars for 28 years. The confessed killer of Dink is, meanwhile, still being tried. The prosecutor in his case is seeking a penalty of 20 years. Apparently it is a greater crime in Turkey to write a book about the circumstances of a murder than it is to actually pull the trigger.

We are tempted to label this case an absurdity. We would like to call it a sham. We would like to point out in no uncertain terms that the prosecution of Şener is a violation by a state institution of democratic fundamentals. Doing so, however, could be judged as interference with the judicial process. That too is a crime in Turkey. So we won’t say anything like that. We won’t even think it.

We will declare publicly here, however, that if Şener is convicted and imprisoned, we will visit. We will bring a few novels, his beloved sports magazines and, if he needs it, a soft pillow.