The first hearing of the law suit against Mesopotamia Agency (MA) reporters Cemil Uğur and Adnan Bilen, Jinnews reporters Şehriban Abi and journalist Nazan Sala will be held in Van 5th High Criminal Court on April 2. MA reporter Zeynep Durgut is also on trial without arrest. The five journalists were arrested on October 9, 2020 after breaking the stroy about Osman Şiban and Servet Turgut, two villagers thrown out of a military helicopter by soldiers in the Çatak district of Van. The five journalists are accused of 'being a member of a terrorist organization'. Nazan Sala is also accused of 'propagandizing a terrorist organization'. 

 

Attorneys of the journalists called for solidarity with their clients at the hearing to be held in Van 5th High Criminal Court.

 

ATTORNEY YETER: THERE ARE NO CRIMINAL ELEMENTS IN THE INDICTMENT

 

Attorney Ekin Yeter with the Freedom Association (ÖHD) underlined that there are no concrete evidence against their clients regarding the accusations. Stating that the indictment is a projection of the intimidation of journalists within the scope of preventing free press activity and creating a pro-government media, Yeter said: "There is no criminal element in the indictment. Our clients are accused of their notes within the scope of their journalistic activities and their interviews about the violations of rights. Is it a crime to write about violations of rights?"

 

Mentioning that the agency and the newspaper the journalists worked for is affiliated with the KCK is an attempt at preventing the public's right to information, Yeter said: "We are close witnesses of our clients' activities in the free press.  They did not do anything other than what their jobs required. This prosecution violates the penal code and the international conventions which Turkey is a party. They must be released as soon as possible."

 

ATTORNEY TİMUR: INDICTMENT IS A POLITICAL DOCUMENT, NOT A LEGAL ONE

 

Emphasizing that the indictment is a political document, not a legal one, Attorney Murat Timur said: "If a person is accused of committing a crime, it is necessary to show the causal link related to it. What crime was imposed on this person, what is the reason for this accusation? But the prosecutor who prepared the indictment appearantly did not need such a justification, which makes this prosecution a political prosecution."

 

THE EXPECTATIONS AND DEMANDS OF THE PROSECUTOR

 

Underlining that there is no information in the indictment on what the charges against these journalists are, Timur said: "The indictment says these journalists are making news against the state and its institutions. The judges and the prosecutor does not have a duty to protect the survival of the state. The duty of a Chief Public Prosecutor is this: To present in the indictment whether a person has committed a crime or not, along with evidence. The prosecutor cannot have any expectation on how the journalists should act. But this prosecutor actually have expactations and demands. He says, 'In my opinion, a journalist must protect the government while doing his job and don't get involved in politics. A lawyer or a prosecutor can not have such political evaluations. And if he does, this document can not be called an 'indictment', it is a political document."

 

BACKGROUND OF THE ARREST

 

Underlining that the journalists were arrested solely because they revealed the torture on the two villagers, Timur told that the journalists are held in prison unlawfully for the lasy 6 months and demanded they must be released as soon as possible, calling on the public to follow the trial closely."

 

 

MA / Müjdat Can - Dindar Karataş