土耳其歌星、記者因政變未遂受審

Turkish pop star Atilla Tas and 28 others, most of them journalists, are being tried in Istanbul on terrorism charges over alleged links to a U.S.-based Muslim cleric blamed for last year's failed coup attempt in Turkey.

They face up to 10 years in prison if convicted of membership in "an armed terrorist organization,'' in a massive government crackdown that has seen more than 100 media outlets closed and more than 41,000 people arrested since July.

Turkish state media said Tas and several others are charged with managing a Twitter account that spread propaganda on behalf of U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, who is accused of masterminding the coup attempt. Gulen has denied any knowledge of the plot.

Human rights groups say Turkey has jailed about 150 journalists, many of whom were arrested before the botched insurrection, for alleged ties to Kurdish rebels who are fighting the Turkish state. The Reporters without Borders group ranked Turkey at 151st out of 180 countries on its press freedom index last year.

The government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan insists the crackdown was essential for the stability of the country. But critics say the detentions show Turkey is becoming more authoritarian under the Islamist leader.

This trial is being closely watched in Turkey, which holds a referendum on April 16 on whether to expand the powers of the presidency.土耳其流行音樂歌星阿提拉·塔斯和另外28人，其中大多數是新聞記者，在伊斯坦布爾因恐怖主義指控受審，罪名是涉嫌和參與了去年未遂政變的一位美國穆斯林牧師有關聯。

如果被定爲“武裝恐怖組織”成員而獲罪，這些人面臨長達十年的監禁。政府在政變未遂後發動大規模鎮壓，已有100多家媒體關閉，自去年7月份以來有41,000多人被捕。

土耳其國家媒體說，塔斯和其他幾個人負責管理一個推特帳戶，代表美國的穆斯林阿訇法土拉·葛蘭（Fethullah Gulen）作傳播宣傳。葛蘭被控策劃了這次未遂的政變。葛蘭否認對這一陰謀知情。

人權團體說，土耳其已關押約一百五十名記者，其中許多記者是在政變之前被捕的，罪名是被控與打擊土耳其政府的庫爾德反叛分子有關。記者無國界組織去年將土耳其在新聞自由指數排行榜上排在180個國家中的第151位。

埃爾多安總統的政府堅持認爲鎮壓對於國家的穩定至關重要。但批評人士說，這種拘留顯示，土耳其在這位伊斯蘭教領導人之下變得越來越專制。

這次審判在土耳其受到密切關注。土耳其將於4月16日舉行公投，決定是否擴大總統職權。