8 July 1996
Alert
Editorial writer Kutlu Adali killed
Incident details
Kutlu Adali
Kutlu Adali, editorial writer for the Turkish Cypriot daily "Yeni
Duzen", organ of the left-wing Turkish Republican Party (CTP), was
shot dead outside his home in the capital, Nicosia, on 7 July
1996. He was hit in the head and died instantly. A left-wing
intellectual who often criticised political figures in his
editorials, Kutlu Adali had been receiving death threats. In
Nicosia, an anonymous caller telephoned the editorial staff of the
newspaper "Kibris" to claim responsibility for the killing. The
male caller said the murder was committed on the orders of an
extreme-right group, the Turkish Revenge Brigade.
According to RSF, Kutlu Adali is the 19th journalist to be killed
because of his opinions or in the course of his work since the
start of the year. A total of 13 journalists have been killed
since 1 January in Europe (including the former Soviet Union), six
of them because of their opinions or in the course of their work,
says RSF.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to Cypriot authorities:
condemning the murder as an extremely serious attack on press
freedom in Cyprus
expressing support for all Cypriot journalists
asking that they do everything in their power to ensure that the
perpetrators of this crime are quickly caught and brought to trial
Appeals To
Mr Rauf Denktash
Representative of the North Cyprus authorities
Nicosia, Cyprus
Fax: +90 520 722 52
Please copy appeals to the originator if possible.