3 May World Press Freedom in Turkey: 34 journalists arrested in 11 months 

2023-05-03 11:58:10


	 

	NEWS CENTER - As part of the investigations carried out against Amed(Diyarbakır) and Ankara-based Free Press employees, 34 journalists were arrested within 11 months.

	 

	As the presidential and parliamentary elections are few days away, detentions and arrests of journalists, lawyers, politicians and union members have increased. Hundreds of people were detained in the most recent detention operations in Amed and Ankara, and many of them were arrested based on secret and open witness statements. The number of journalists arrested in 11 months reached 34 with the last arrests.

	 

	16 JOURNALIST WERE ARRESTED IN AMED

	 

	As part of the investigation carried out by the Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor's Office against Free Press employees, a raid was carried out on JINNEWS and the production companies Pel, Piya and Ari on June 8, 2022. All digital materials from agencies and production companies were seized during the raids. In addition to production companies, the homes of journalists working there were raided.

	  

	Dicle Fırat Journalists Association (DFG) Co-chairperson Serdar Altan, Xwebûn Newspaper Editor-in-Chief Mehmet Ali Ertaş, JINNEWS Director Safiye Alagaş, JINNEWS editor Gülşen Koçuk, Mesopotamia Agency (MA) editor Aziz Oruç, journalists Ömer Çelik, Suat Doğuhan, Ramazan Geciken, Esmer Tunç, Neşe Toprak, Zeynel Abidin Bulut, Mazlum Güler, Mehmet Şahin, Elif Üngür, İbrahim Koyuncu, Remziye Temel, Mehmet Yalçın, Abdurrahman Öncü, Lezgin Akdeniz, Kadir Bayram and citizens Feynaz Koçuk and İhsan Ergülen were detained.

	 

	Gülşen Koçuk, Esmer Tunç, Mehmet Yalçın, Kadir Bayram, Feynaz Koçuk and İhsan Ergülen, who were brought to court on June 16, were released on condition of judicial control. Another 16 journalists were arrested. The allegation of "being a member of a terrorist organization" was cited as the reason for the arrest of journalists. The allegation was based on the interviews made by the journalists with the news sources, the television programs, the news and the questions posed to the guests in the programs. The police blockade on the buildings of Piya and Ari production companies was lifted after 32 days.

	 

	'AN INDICTMENT WITHOUT EVIDENCE' 

	 

	After more than 10 months, an indictment was prepared against 18 journalists, 15 of whom were imprisoned. In the 728-page indictment, the archives of production companies, photographs and footages downloaded from the internet for programs, "confiscated" newspapers and books, and payments made for programs were made the subject of accusation.

	 

	The files regarding the detained Editor-in-Chief of JINNEWS, Safiye Alağaş, and the journalist Gülşen Koçuk, who were on trial pending trial, were separated by the decision dated March 21. Feynaz Koçuk and İhsan Ergülen were not included in this indictment.

	 

	18 journalists, 15 of whom are imprisoned, will appear before a judge at the Diyarbakır 4th High Criminal Court on July 11.

	 

	ANKARA-BASED OPERATION

	 

	A new operation was started on October 25, 2022. The homes of Free Press employees in 9 Ankara-based provinces were raided at a time when the use of chemical weapons in the Zap, Metîna and Avaşîn regions of the Federated Kurdistan Region of Turkey was on the agenda. In addition, the Ankara office of the Mesopotamia Agency (MA) and the Ari Production building were raided. Digital materials belonging to journalists were seized.

	 

	In the detention operation for which an arrest warrant was issued for 14 people, MA Editorial Manager Diren Yurtsever, MA reporters Berivan Altan, Deniz Nazlım, Selman Güzelyüz, Hakan Yalçın, Ceylan Şahinli, Emrullah Acar and Zemo Ağgöz, JINNEWS reporters Habibe Eren and Öznur Değer, MA's Ankara Mehmet Günhan, who worked as an intern in its office for a while, was taken into custody, were arrested. Journalists were arrested under torture were transferred to Ankara Courthouse 4 days later. While Zemo Ağgöz and Mehmet Günhan were released, 9 journalists were arrested on charges of "being a member of a terrorist organization".

	 

	As part of the same operation, Hamdullah Bayram, an employee of Yeni Yaşam Newspaper, was arrested on March 21, 2023.

	 

	At the time 11 journalists were detained, JINNEWS reporter Derya Ren was also detained during house raids in Amed. Ren was arrested at the courthouse where she was transferred the same day, after the finalized prison sentence was read to him. Ren was taken to Diyarbakır Women's Closed Prison.

	 

	Listing 149 news stories from the Mezopotamya Agency, which was shown as the defendant despite being a legal entity, in the indictment prepared three and a half months later for those detained and arrested within the scope of the Ankara-based investigation, the prosecutor included the statements of public and secret witnesses who did not make any statements about the journalists. Journalists will appear in court one day after the election, on May 15.

	 

	AMED-BASED OPERATION 

	 

	The operations against journalists increased with only a few days left for the elections. The houses of many people, including journalists, politicians, artists and representatives of non-governmental organizations, were raided in line with the statements of public witness Ümit Akbıyık on April 25 in 21 cities based in Amed. 145 people were detained, 51 of them were arrested.

	 

	MA editor Abdurrahman Gök, JINNEWS reporter Beritan Canözer and journalists Mehmet Şah Oruç, Remzi Akkaya and Mikail Barut were among those arrested on charges of "being a member of a terrorist organization".

	 

	Xwebûn Newspaper Concession Holder Kadri Esen, Yeni Yaşam Newspaper Editor-in-Chief Osman Akın, journalists Ahmet Kanbal, Salih Keleş, Kadir Bayram and Mehmet Yalçın, who were detained in the same operation, were also released.

	 

	YILMAZ AND MÜFTÜOĞLU ARE ARRESTED

	 

	As part of the Ankara-based investigation, 19 people, including Dicle Fırat Journalists Association (DFG) Co-chairperson Dicle Müftüoğlu and MA editor Sedat Yılmaz, were detained in 15 cities. 5 people, including journalists Sedat Yılmaz and Dicle Müftüoğlu, were arrested on May 3 World Press Freedom Day.

	 

	'ILLEGAL ORDER WILL BE DESTROYED IN 10 DAYS'

	 

	Sedat Yılmaz, for whom an arrest warrant was issued, said in front of the court door: "The illegal order will be destroyed in 10 days, it will be destroyed." Müftüoğlu gave the message "We will not be silent".