16 journalists behind bars for a month

2022-07-16 12:45:02


	 

	DİYARBAKIR - One month has passed since the arrest of 16 journalists in Diyarbakır, attorney Resul Temur said that the arrest was aimed at preventing freedom of the press and the right of the public to receive impartial news.

	 

	As part of the investigation carried out by the Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, 22 people, including 20 journalists, were detained during raids on homes and workplaces on June 8. Journalists were reffered to Diyarbakır Courthouse after being detained in the police headquarters for 8 days. Meanwhile, journalists were held waiting in the bus until their statements were taken. Upon the objection of the attorneys, the journalists were brought to the courthouse corridor and waited for hours. The statements of the journalists at the prosecutor's office and the Criminal Judgeship of Peace continued until 3 o'clock in the morning.

	 

	THE NAMES OF THE IMPRISONED JOURNALISTS 

	 

	Journalists whose programs, conversations with news sources and journalistic activities were the subject of accusations, JINNEWS Director Safiye Alagaş, Dicle Fırat Journalists Association (DFG) Co-chair Serdar Altan, MA Editor Aziz Oruç, Xwebûn Newspaper Editor-in-Chief Mehmet Ali Ertaş, journalists Zeynel Abidin Bulut, Ömer Çelik, Mazlum Doğan Güler, İbrahim Koyuncu, Neşe Toprak, Elif Üngür, Abdurrahman Öncü, Suat Doğuhan, Remziye Temel, Ramazan Geciken, Lezgin Akdeniz and Mehmet Şahin were arrested on charges of "being a member of a terrorist organisation", Gülşen Koçuk, Esmer Tunç, Mehmet Yalçın, Kadir Bayram, Feynaz Koçuk and İhsan Ergülen were released with judicial control measures.

	 

	PROSECUTOR AND JUDGE WERE PROMOTED

	 

	With the 2022 Main Decree of the Judicial and Administrative Judiciary of the 1st Chamber of the Council of Judges and Prosecutors, a total of 5,426 judges and prosecutors, of which 5 thousand 75 are from the judiciary and 351 from the administrative judiciary, were changed. Public Prosecutor Nilgün Kürkaya, who conducted an investigation against 22 people, 20 of whom are journalists, and the judge who decided their arrest  were among those who were reassigned. Bismil Public Prosecutor Nilgül Kürkaya was appointed to İzmir Public Prosecutor's Office, and Criminal Judge of Peace Yunus Emre Kılıçlar, who decided the arrest of the journalists, was appointed to Sakarya Ferizli.

	 

	SOLIDARITY AND CONDEMNATIONS

	 

	After the arrest of journalists, many journalist organisations in Turkey and around the world condemned the decision, while many groups, especially journalists, visited the Dicle Fırat Journalists Association (DFG) in Diyarbakır. The arrests of journalists led by the DFG and the Mesopotamia Women Journalists Platform (MKGP) were protested with demonstrations and press releases and international writers, journalists and media companies expressed their solidarity.

	 

	NEITHER THE JOURNALISTS NOR THEIR ATTORNEYS WERE INFORMED ABOUT THE ACCUSATIONS

	 

	While a restiction order was issued for the investigation file of the journalists, neither the journalists nor their attorneys were informed about the accusations. The raided Piya and Ari Production building was under a police blockade for 32 days with the claim that the search was ongoing. 32 days after the blockade was lifted, the police gave a bail piece to the attorneys after the search, but did not give a list of the confiscated materials. In the first examination made by the company employees after the search, it was determined that 19 cameras in the production companies, which the Diyarbakir Police Department served their photographs of as “criminal elements”, hard disks in all computer, sound mixers in studios, microphones, computers in the director's section and monitors of some computers were confiscated.

	 

	CAMERAS BECAME 'CRIMINAL ELEMENTS'

	 

	After condemnations to the arrest of journalists increased, Diyarbakır Provincial Security Directorate showed the cameras confiscated as a terrorist organisation's material and criminal elements. Displaying the cameras as "criminal elements" caused public reactions.

	 

	DETENTION FOR SOLIDARITY!

	 

	While many journalists carried out demonstrations and press releases in different cities regarding the arrest of journalists, TİP MP Ahmet Şık presented the report he prepared on the arrested journalists to the public. In addition, many journalists came together in cities such as Dersim, Mersin, Van, Istanbul and Ankara, and organised demonstrations and press releases demanding the release of their colleagues. The police, who attacked the journalists who tried to make a statement in Ankara, detained journalists Sibel Yukler, Deniz Nazlım and Yıldız Tar.

	 

	12 JOURNALISTS WERE TRANSFERRED TO  OTHER PRISONS

	 

	Violations against 16 imprisoned journalists continued in prison as well. Among the journalists imprisoned in Diyarbakır, Editor-in-Chief of Xwebûn Newspaper Mehmet Ali Ertaş, MA Editor Aziz Oruç and Ramazan Geciken, Mazlum Güler, Abdurrahman Öncü and Suat Doğuhan were transferred to Diyarbakır High Security Prison No. 1, DFG Co-chairs Serdar Altan and Mehmet Şahin, Zeynel Abidin Bulut, Ömer Çelik, İbrahim Koyuncu and Lezgin Akdeniz were transferred to the No. 2 High Security Prison.

	 

	LETTERS WERE FOUND 'OBJECTIONABLE'

	 

	The prison administration, on the other hand, confiscated the letters sent by many journalists to their colleagues, labelling them "objectionable". The letters of Mehmet Ali Ertaş, Ömer Çelik and Serdar Altan were not sent. Even letters sent to journalist Ömer Çelik by his colleagues were not delivered.

	 

	CONTINUATION OF DETENTION

	 

	In the monthly detention evaluation of the arrested journalists, the Diyarbakır 5th High Criminal Court stated that "Considering the full scope of the file, there is concrete evidence showing that the suspects have committed the alleged crime, there is no change in the type of crime and evidence in favor of the suspect, and when the whole file is taken into account continuation of detention is decided.Instead of leaving this investigation file, which concerns the freedom of the press and freedom of expression, which is tried and suppressed, in a dilemma between the prosecuted and the state; It is necessary to be involved in such cases in a social sense and to prevent them from turning into unlawfulness by carrying them to different channels. Seeing that there is a serious solidarity and support for journalists except for some press organisations that approaches the Kurdish Press with prejudice, lifts up the spirits of the journalist.."

	 

	MA / Müjdat Can