US, UK, and Others Offer Support for on-trial Cypriot Journalist Kismir

US ambassador in Nicosia Julie Davis Fisher described the trial as “a critical moment for press freedom”, adding that “decisions taken during his trial will demonstrate either a commitment to a free and independent press or reveal an effort to suppress journalism.

“We reiterate our support for Kismir’s rights.”

Meanwhile, the British High Commission, and the embassies of Ireland, the Netherlands, and Switzerland issued a joint statement in which they said they were “concerned by any attempts to restrict press freedom, silence debate, or intimidate journalists”.

“We believe people must be able to debate issues freely and make informed decisions, supported by access to information from a strong, robust, and independent media. We are concerned about the potential implications of the Ali Kismir case on media freedom and will continue to monitor developments closely,” they said.

Kismir was put on trial after he had likened the headquarters of the ‘TRNC security forces command’ to a ‘brothel’ in a post on Facebook in 2020, after the building had allegedly been visited by representatives of Ersin Tatar in the run-up to that October’s Turkish Cypriot leadership election.

At the first hearing on November 26, Lieutenant Colonel Cengiz Dogan told the court that the post had actually made people cry.

“Female personnel called me in tears and said, ‘commander, there is such a post on Facebook, what do they want to tell us?’, and that is how I learned about it,” he said.

After that hearing, the Cyprus Union of Journalists, offered their “wholehearted support” to Kismir, saying he faces prison for “daring to criticise the pseudo-state’s security forces”.

“In essence, he is being prosecuted for an opinion piece where he defiantly expressed his critical opinion about the authorities in the occupied part of our country,” they added, going on to call him “daring”.

Former Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akıncı, the man beaten by Ersin Tatar in the 2020 election on Sunday said “those who should be tried are those who gave the order for these interventions [in the election] and those who carried them out.

“Journalists can of course be tried if they commit a crime like other people, but no journalist can be sentenced to prison for what they write. If we are going to demand a democratic social structure with a free press, it is inevitable that this case will be withdrawn,” he added.

Source: Cyprus Mail