İZMİR- Video activist Oktay İnce, who will stand on the first trial of the case, which was opened against him on grounds of "insulting the President, on February 25 called for solidarity.

The house of Oktay İnce, a video activist and a member of Seyri Sokak Video Activism and Documentary Collective, was raided on October 16 2018 on grounds of "praising the terror and the terrorist organization via social media account" and all his documentary films and hard disks containing his 20-year-old archieve were confiscated. İnce has been continuously demonstrating and acting in various parts of İzmir as well as Ankara in order to get his archieve back.

'THOSE WHO OPEN THESE CASES KNOW THAT THEY ACT UNLAWFULLY'

İnce called for support to his first hearing that will be held in Kemalpaşa 1st Criminal Court on February 25 and explained the trial process.

Stating that it is now meaningless to discuss if there is a juristiction in Turkey compliying with the laws or any democratic precedent İnce made the following comment: "Those who open these cases, who take people hostage in the prisons without formal criminal charges, those who are the guardians in the streets and who are the rulers of the state know that they act unlawfully. It is now known that these social media operations have become the tools to control and put pressure on the opposition. Social media operations especially target culture and art producers, journalists, authors, film-makers, artists and academicians, who, by revealing the threats on freedom of expression, express the unjust applications of AKP dictate. They target the figures, who have a publicly recognized affect with their social media operations, prisons and penalties. The purpose is to prevent the struggle for rights."

'İZMİR SECURITY BRANCH SEARCHES THROUGH MY SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS'

İnce states that as the trial opened against him were continuing, he began to make demonstrations in order to get get his confiscated archieve back and during this process İzmir Security Branch Office has prepared a report of Website Detection Report. İnce's statements continue as follows: "İzmir Security Branch Office prepares this report on April 11, 2019, which is just 5 days before my demonstration before İzmir Governorship. It is not hard to guess, as soon as I announce my demonstration decision, the police begins the scan and search through my social media accounts with the idea that 'let's have a look which criminal charges we can relate to him'. The same İzmir Security Branch took documentarist Kazım Kızıl while he was recording and took a legal action ased on law No. 2911 and during his custody they have begun a social media scan and put him into prison. The situation is similar."

'THEY TRY TO PREVENT US FROM USING OUR DEMOCRATIC RIGHTS'

Reminding that a warrant of catch has been declared on behalf of him on April 15, 2019, İnce continued his statements: "After I finished my demonstration in front of İzmir Governorship, I was taken to Kemalpaşa police sitation to give my statement, but I was faced with the accusations of insulting and 'offensing' Erdoğan together with the pages of photocopies of my social media posts. We observe that he process of opening this case against me accelerates after my 1-week "I want my films, writings and family memories back" demonstrations in Ankara. The case opened against us with the report of Ankara anti-terror branch accusing us of "terror organization propaganda" and the case opened with the accusations of "insulting Erdoğan" are the two basic arguments of the social media operations, which are conducted in order to silence the social opposition in general. It is not about preventing the propaganda of terror organizations or preventing the insult of Erdoğan; it just means 'shut up'. The purpose is to silence Seyri Sokak, which has been effective in some level in the social struggle and to prevent us protesting the unlawful confiscation of our digital archives consisting our film materials, writings and family memories."