a turkish court but six turkish journalists are sentenced to life we look at the country as ongoing assault on free speech i'm sara kelly in berlin this is the day . format. for you me i didn't say you'd like many others that i'm not the he's out of jail on the side beach so he sure is there talking isn't completely useless isn't it to do this in those days when you know that there are other perhaps not sort of prominent cases of people who are in turkish prisons and we have the daily proceedings will be dealt with quickly and according to the rule of law. one man gets out of jail six others get life sentences freedom of the press is under fire in turkey on friday one of the country's most prominent details be

german turkish journalist dennis you cho was released after a year of being held in a turkish jail without charge he had germany's top diplomats campaigning heavily for him including the german chancellor who met with turkey's prime minister on thursday but celebration is tempered by the reality that on the very same day six other journalists were sentenced to life in prison as part of the country's post crew crackdown on dissent which has seen an estimated fifty thousand people jailed and more than one hundred fifty thousand sacked or suspended from their jobs our coverage begins with this report. dennis you joe's last minutes on turkish soil before boarding a plane back to germany freedom at last after one year in jail earlier germany's foreign minister real was the bearer of good news out of speaking at a press conference at the headquarters of dennis you just employer the german daily

developed gabriele told reporters that you jells release was a victory for diplomacy. we talked extensively to our talk as partners this started with me asking former chancellor gerhard schroeder to. should i went there twice for. it was always of particular importance for the turkish government not to politically influence a court decision not to infringe on the independence of the courts and it's this photograph of future in the arms of his wife was released earlier in the day by his lawyer and it quickly made the rounds on social media. one year ago dennis you cho was detained in istanbul turkish authorities accused the correspondent for developed of terrorist propaganda among other things but until today he had not been charged with any crime. in berlin friends and supporters gathered to celebrate

his release but many said the news was bittersweet. but it wouldn't die today three of our colleagues in turkey were handed down life sentences reporters without borders sees that as a very bad sign because there are a number of similar cases being tried in the near future that means that while we celebrate today there really isn't a reason to do so. the german government campaign vigorously for the release of you jel as well as other journalists imprisoned in turkey many civilian organizations also demonstrated through his release you joe may have been released from jail but in their indicted. meant turkish prosecutors have demanded up to eighteen years imprisonment. and for more i'm joined now in the studio by hugh williamson he is the director of the europe and central asia division of human rights watch welcome and thanks for joining us this evening so mention it and

if you child now free pending trial cause for celebration it was a wonderful for his himself for his family for the community for the activists for the journalists who supported his case for one long year in turkey and in germany but as you said in your reports six other journalists sentenced to life so life in prison today so that says something about the state of press freedom in turkey tell us a little bit more about those six what more do we know about them we know for instance there were two very well respected journalists mehmet and tahn who were in this in their sixty's brothers who are respected economists and columnists in in progressive media in turkey and there were imprisoned just after the failed coup in mid two thousand and sixteen. ironically or bitterly one of them last month mehmet out on his sentence was overturned by the constitutional court of

turkey the highest court in the country overturned his. his imprisonment and said he should be released a lower court dismissed that decision by the constitutional court which is against turkish law which just underlines that there is really no real rule of law in turkey at the moment and other people among those six now face a similar fate of life in prison and they're so often charged with a similar charge we know that that these for example today were found guilty they were charged with aiding the plotters of the twenty sixth failed coup why those charges specifically. i mean that many of these journalists are allegedly supporters of the glenn movement the religious movement the president added one used to be allied with and there's now that it's in his sights as being an opposition movement in a way is the scapegoat organization within turkey that the president has been

targeting he sees a connection with those things these charges of terrorism are very vaguely worded very little substance we've seen in the indictment papers there's nothing in there apart from their ordinary journalistic work least people in prison face life in prison for it to be normal journalists in turkey. dennis you shall i mean he was a cause celeb here in germany was and as we mentioned he had the top diplomats of the country advocate also for his release are you concerned now that he has been released that there will be less focus on human rights violations within turkey and i am worried about that actually yeah because i think there will be a huge sigh of relief when of course we should take a day or two to mark this is important that a germ german turkish journalist is out of prison is a niche it's a it's an important step but the german government needs to continue to realize there's a systematic crisis in human rights in turkey at the moment and it needs to orientate its policy around that not just focusing on one or two german prisoners in turkey

but focused on the fact that there is a state of emergency in the country there's torture going on in police detention as other serious systematic elements in the human rights abuse pattern that they need to address with the turkish government and only when they've done so and relations return to normal but germany i mean when we compare it to other countries that has been quite outspoken about human rights violations within the country in the one the cause is so much bigger than germany isn't it of course i'm in germany you're right has been outspoken when we talk to the german foreign ministry to the chancellor for instance as human rights watch they are open to our issues and they are ready to respond germany should therefore take this position and take it to brussels for instance and try to persuade other countries to maintain a firm position in relation to to turkey as you know turkey wants to build better relations again with the e.u. . germany should be standing firm and saying back now happen until this this

systematic crisis in human rights is is ended and turkey turns over a new leaf same with the council of europe in straws book turkey is on the watch list of this for the council of europe it should stay on that watch list until things improve and germany can influence that where do you see the trajectory going right now given. current state of affairs and what are your hopes for the future i don't see many positive signs as great this is happened today but the sentencing of the six journalists really shows that the crisis is continuing we also have from we also have opposition politicians in prison today there was a prison ruling against d.p. politician today also in istanbul very bad news for the country millions of people don't have the democratically elected representatives allowed to operate freely so i'm pessimistic for the for the for the long term for the long term human rights trend in the country but there is a very strong civil society still in turkey there are still some journalists able

to operate so we have a faith in the in the movement in the country but unless countries like germany of the european union as a whole continue to put pressure on the country and i think things will continue to get worse while the better you mentioned there the denial of bail application for one of turkey's best known politicians he is with the pro kurdish h.e.p.a. party what is your view of the terrorism charges which are currently being brought against him yeah as i mentioned often those charges are very vague and. lucid undefined that's the case in that's the point in this case the charges are very. unspecified he's been in prison for some time now the case is is is is going nowhere unfortunately we think he should be released at least for to allow a fair trial and then a clear examination of the evidence that should be some really concrete evidence

presented if he's good if he should be tried. and and as i said. people in the southeast of turkey deserve to be represented in parliament and dozens and dozens of m.p.'s from a g.p. of been stripped of their mandate in parliament and and that's a really democratic setback for the country because peep. cannot voice voice their views freely and feel represented in the country's parliament and that alienates a but an important part of the country as well so this failed bail application has wide knock on effects across the country do you see this as being a problem at the top of turkish politics of turkish government or is this something which has now really seat down and is a systemic issue in the country you know under president had won the country has become more authoritarian so it is a problem at the top in a way but it's the government as well i mean the he's he's he's somebody who's used

the state of emergency to divert away from the rule of law or he's avoided the implementation of new laws and things by him by focusing on a state of emergency so there is a crisis at the top but that needs to be dealt with as well at the in the middle ranking levels in order to to turn the country round in order to give the country a better positive focus away from a system of human rights abuses turkey was a country that was on the path to joining the european union i mean that's a long way away again now but that's so we should see a positive future for an important country like turkey so today perhaps the moral of the story is one step forward with the release of dennis you tell six deaths back perhaps more to go we want to thank you very much joining us from human rights watch hugh williams and with your take on the matter we appreciate it thank you so much. the first day of the annual munich security conference has seen germany's defense

minister criticizing u.s. moves to cut spending on the united nations' arcilla funder line also argued that diplomacy and development aid are just as essential as military strength our political correspondent lyndal crane caught up with the german defense minister have a list and minister you said in your remarks that you were concerned that some countries have been decreasing support for the united nations for diplomacy for development aid and you said that the development worker needs the soldier and vice versa one might conclude that you were sending a message across the transom across the atlantic with your remarks well i think we need a pact of comprehensive security because we know one cannot be without the other there is no security without stepping ization reconsolidation. and economic development but you know yes i want to send a message over the atlantic but at the same time i want to send

a message to ourselves as the europeans we have to be getting better organized what the military means are concerned so we have to be more effective we have to invest more on the other side we know that we need the second leg which is economic development desperately the funding of the united nations is so important and none of us is able to solve problems on its own so all of us have to work towards those two goals that is security and economic development group concerned are you that the united states is taking a too militarily driven approach to security are you worried about a kind of a division of responsibility where the u.s. does all the hard stuff and europe the soft. i was very clear that at that depth can't be. a work share one is. responsible for the. military and then the other one is response on support for reconstruction no none

of us can shy away from both tossed we have to fulfill and therefore it is so important for us to understand in reality we know this because if we look at iraq for example we know that we military wise defeated eisel this is very good but we know we will only win the battle against eisel the moment that people see a perspective in their region they see medical aid they see that there's gas electricity water we fix their houses they get jobs this will be the fight against the ideology we have to fight to we've seen it in afghanistan we know it from africa so to us. transatlantic alliance is so important that we know we stand on two legs. when we talk about messages across the atlantic certainly a message from the other side to europe has been take more responsibility now

there's been a lot of talk here about hesco permanent structured cooperation the new initiative in europe to try to integrate defense and security but it's essentially still in its absolute infancy you're walking the walk there to you talking the talk but when will europe really walk the walk on this well we made a huge step forward because for the very first time since europe the european union exists we have a legal frame around the european defense union for the very first time we have a single a project with a few countries who are willing and able to act and to move forward of course we have to fill it with life not this is clear but we've never been as structured. within the procedures and as clear in the legal frame as we are right now and therefore the beginning of the european defense union is that what. it's important for me is it's no competition to nato it's complimentary nato will always be

a collective defense but there are other tasks if i just look at africa for example they are as a tell us where europe is needed and after two a few months you have wasn't able to act at all because we didn't have neither the procedures nor the structures now we are establishing a bellows with a military command with the european defense fund just to name some examples so that we are able to act for our own security to a very brief last question on germany you've said germany is ready to do more it's ready to take responsibility but you don't have that two percent goal in the new coalition agreement. all we have a clear goal fill the fairy first time this is a concrete package for comprehend for us cunt comprehensive security which says we want to reach the nato goal as well as the older a goal that we have in the united nations and. as i know that we will have to invest billions in the old e

a quota systems development assistance i do know that there will be billions for the defense too because we said we gonna raise the budgets one by one on an equal was for the for the very first time we have a very hard agreement thank you very much defense minister front of i am. the polish prime minister has met agel america with the aim of improving prickly relations with germany but he's also been forced to defend his government's latest policies which many see as highly controversial among them poland has advised its citizens abroad to report criticism of the country to its embassies warsaw also stands accused of white washing the role of poles in the holocaust did abuse nick connelly reports from the polish capital. in warsaw history is never far away. it's a city built on the ruins left by more than five years of brutal nazi german

occupation during world war two. more than seventy years on and poland's present government worries that memory of the war is blurring inside and outside the country particularly when it comes to the fate of poland's three million jewish dead shifting the blame for nazi crimes committed on polish soil to the poles themselves and downplaying christian poles support for their persecuted jewish battery is when president obama mistakenly referred to auschwitz as a polish death camp back in twenty twelve he had to ruin. a government sponsored p.r. campaign seeks to redress that imbalance. you tube ads targeted it uses in europe in israel seek to open foreigners eyes to poland's war record. more controversially a new law makes it a criminal offense to attribute nazi crimes to the polish nation its critics fear

it could effectively criminalize open discussion of the holocaust rendering stories of individual poles collaboration off limits the new legislation has drawn stiff criticism from israel and the u.s. but for now the government seems unimpressed. and eventually you are this law will protect the polish nation and the polish people from false accusations it's just like the laws against holocaust denial on the go on your holocaust. but for this m.p. from poland's governing party the present lore is not the end of the line when it comes to addressing his country's troubled past. it's at the present day germany has still not paid poland war reparations poland lost twelve million of its citizens and fifty percent of it territory and no one has made amends for this. carolyn of the guru is an expert on historical memory and poland's jewish community she says the law was rushed through in a hurry and is dangerously vague it is visible that the government did not expect

such or such a reaction that the law was actually poorly prepared and that they werent able to foresee the consequences we had to warsaw's only surviving pre-war synagogue before the holocaust the city's jewish community numbered some three hundred thousand people today fewer than ten thousand remain but how is the new law being received here people do not feel restrained as such but people feel is there a place for me in poland today and it's a hireable statement for me to say the poles suffered horribly during world war two they were fair. testicular rose of the righteous among the nations the best people in the world and you also have individual poles and sometimes even groups of poles the collaborated with the germans and led to the murder of jews all those statements are true and in a democratic free poland we need to be able to say them openly without any fear of

being prosecuted in court. warsaw is booming leaving ever few of physical reminders of the war on the city's streets but the memory shows no sign of fading quite the opposite as the question of who and what to remember comes to dominate potence politics. day two of the coverage of the berlin international film festival and sarah harman david levitz are there for us as always so guys what's happening on the red carpet today. well tell you about the big action tonight the fans were out they were screaming robert robert it wasn't for robert duvall it wasn't for robert redford it was robert pattinson and he and his store in the new film damsel were looking pretty sleek in black that's right yeah this is a western film that premiered actually at sundance the berlin festival showed it

today and the star of the film is not only robert pattinson but also mia was because you know australian actress and she plays a woman who needs a lot of things but saving isn't one of them my colleague charlotte charleston pil caught up with me on the red carpet and asked her what attracted her to the character of penelope here's what she had to say. i just thought it was really clever like that we sort of see this idealize we have this idealized view and perspective of. the first half of the film and then when we actually meet her she's completely different. and i think that's a really clever way of turning it on its head. yeah it was it was really exciting i love you know i love. you. and that film that she's in damsel is showing now is it want to see you guys have seen it. through here

let's do this first i think the best way to describe this film is experimental it starts out as one thing a sort of morphs into another thing it's a western it's a comedy it has very deadpan moments but it's also trying to have some deeper emotions for me i want my two hours back i just wasn't buying it i mean it's nice to look at robert pattinson but it just didn't work for me it was hard it was hard to really understand the emotion when it was. this is a movie that did sort of bill itself as a feminist. but it was trying to be so many different things it was. you can't you can't be all things to all people i think if you're a fan of western genres you might enjoy this interesting take on it but for the average joe this is probably one's ok so robert pattinson needs to stick to those heartthrob roles apparently berlin alum in time criticized for an invitation it issued to a korean director what's the story there. well the story here is that. this

is the first. movement has really taken on there's a real examination of what movies they want to show and there have been a lot of apparently male directors have been left out because there are sexual. abuse allegations against them and this is this is one of them well this is in fact not one of them because this korean director was invited even though there are sexual abuse allegations against him it all stems back to this director's two thousand and thirteen film it's called mobius and one of the actresses in the film made two allegations against him firstly that he sexually assaulted her and secondly that he slapped her now he paid a fine for the slapping a few thousand dollars he admits that happened but he doesn't admit to the sexual assault that has been dropped in south korea and so this director was invited to the berlin film festival that's very controversial here people are saying. has

dominated the headlines and when more attention is being paid to the role of women in film it's inappropriate to have a director who's been accused of sexual assault here at the festivals and you can bet sarah that we have not heard the last of this. ok there are men david leavitt's there on the red carpet with all of the films all of the controversy thank you so much to both of you. while the day is nearly done but as ever the conversation continues online you can find us on twitter either at my handle is at sarah kelly t.v. and don't forget. as always you can use the hash tag the day today will be back on monday i'll see you then have a great big. block .

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