Following the appointment of a trustee to the Mardin Metropolitan Municipality by the Ministry of Interior, on August 20, 2019 police had used gas bombs and pressurized water to intervene to hundreds of people, including Parliament Members of HDP who had gathered in front of the city hall to protest. During the intervention, along with some citizens, Mesopotamia Agency (MA) reporters Ahmet Kanbal and Mehmet Şah Oruç, Jinnews reporter Rojda Aydın, journalists Halime Parlak and Nurcan Yalçın, along with 67-year-old Mehmet Ete, Hamza Ete and Mehmet Selim were also detained. The detainees who were questioned about “what they were doing there” were released after a week.

 

THEY DIDN’T LEAVE THE ZONE OF INTERVENTION!

 

While a decision of non-prosecution against the 8 detainees among whom 5 are journalists were given last year concerning allegations of  "membership of an organization" and "making propaganda for an organization", Mardin Prosecutor’s Office prepared a new indictment with the allegation of “Joining Illegal Meetings and Protests Unarmed and Rejecting to Disperse despite Warnings”. 

 

The indictment was accepted by the Mardin 1st Criminal Court of First Instance. In the indictment, it was stated that on the day of protests,there was a 30-day long ban on “protests and related activities'' by  the Governorship of Mardin. It was also stated that the journalists and 3 others "those who were part of the group who protested closed the highway to traffic, did not leave the intervention zone despite attempts to disperse and acted in resistance”. The prosecutor also claimed in the indictment that "the meeting and protest took place illegally" and stated that "according to the video examination reports and the statements of the suspects, the suspects were among the group which committed illegal acts, hence there is enough suspicion against them that requires the initiation of a public lawsuit."