CPJ: Stop accusing journalists in Turkey of 'terrorism'  

2023-02-23 10:03:07


	 

	NEWS CENTER- CPJ, in a statement, called on Turkey to stop accusing press members of "terrorism" and release all imprisoned journalists.

	 

	The indictment, prepared against Mezopotamya Agency (MA) Editor-in-Chief Diren Yurtsever, correspondents Berivan Altan, Ceylan Şahinli, Deniz Nazlım, Selman Güzelyüz, Emrullah Acar, JINNEWS reporters Habibe Eren and Öznür Değer, MA reporter Zemo Ağgöz who was on trial pending trial and Mehmet Günhan, who worked as an intern in the Ankara office of MA for a while, who were detained by Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor Zafer Ergün, was accepted.

	 

	The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemned the accusation of journalists of "membership in a terrorist organization" in a statement.

	 

	Carlos Martinez de la Serna, CPJ's Director of Programs in New York, said: "The latest in a long chain of lawsuits brought in retaliation for the reports of journalists on terrorism charges against 10 journalists by the Turkish authorities recently. Authorities should withdraw these charges; They should release all journalists imprisoned for their professional activities and stop equating journalism with terrorism."

	 

	The journalists accused in the indictment are accused of being members of the illegal organization Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), according to the related news and the indictment reviewed by CPJ.

	 

	A large part of the indictment, which was completed after 3 and a half months as part of the investigation carried out against the journalists, consisted of 149 news stories published in the Mezopotamya Agency, while the Prosecutor cited the statements taken by the journalists as evidence, the results of the investigation of the seized digital materials, and the HTS records as evidence.

	 

	CPJ announced that it sent an e-mail to the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office and Turkey's Ministry of Justice for comment on the situation in question, but received no response.