ANKARA - Stating that the government has arrested journalists in order to prevent the public from getting news stories, the imprisoned journalists said: "We will be on the side of the pursuit of the truth."

 

Diren Yurtsever, Editor-in-Chief of the Mezopotamya Agency (MA), MA reporters Berivan Altan, Deniz Nazlım, Selman Güzelyüz, Hakan Yalçın, Ceylan Şahinli, Emrullah Acar, and JINNEWS reporters Habibe Eren and Öznur Değer were arrested on charges of "being member of a terrorist organisation".

 

The news stories written by journalists, their phone calls with news sources, and their travels within the scope of their journalistic activities were used as grounds for arresting them. The journalists condemned the torture and arrest of journalists, drawing attention to unlawfulness.

 

'WE WILL BREAK THE CASTLE OF FASCISM WITH OUR PEN'

 

Stating that writing the truth disturbs the government, Alınteri Newspaper Ankara Representative Zarife Çamalan said: “They are trying to silence the society by hijacking and destroying the right of receiving news, suppressing it with pressure and attack, stemming from their own desperation. They couldn't do it, they won't be able to. The Free Press has always faced an attack for years. Journalists are not only subjected to the fascist treatment in detention, they are also battered, detained and exposed to violence on the streets."

 

Stating that the government is trying to intimidate the society with these attacks, Çamalan said: "They could not do this, the condemnations against this are very intense and our solidarity is great. The Free Press was not silenced yesterday, nor will it be silenced today, we will break the castle of fascism with our pen.”

 

THE SMEAR CAMPAIGN OF THE GOVERNMENT

 

Stating that the government was trying to obscure the press on the way to the elections, Sibel Hürtaş: "Head of the Ankara Branch of the Journalists' Union of Turkey (TGS) said: "Free Press workers, especially the Kurdish press, are exposed to very serious pressure. It is possible to define this as a 'smear campaign'. 16 of our journalist friends were arrested on June 16, then we came across the news that 9 of our journalist friends were arrested. There are lawsuits filed against 160 Kurdish journalists. It is not a coincidence that such an operation was carried out on the way to the elections."

 

'WE WILL CONTINUE PERSUING THE TRUTH'

 

Saying that journalists were arrested for the news stories they reported, Hürtaş said: “Imagine that journalists are on trial because of the news stories they reported and the books that were found in their house. This is called 'a terrorist organisation membership'. They know that they don't get from the investigation. 16 of our journalist friends were arrested on June 16. We are in November, but there is still no indictment. No crime was created. Journalism is not a crime. Our friends did rights-oriented journalism and were criminalized for it. Free Press representatives have been targeted. When we look at the images served, there are facts that apart from the detained friends, other friends at home were also ill-treated and tortured with long-barreled guns to their heads. We will not let go of the facts that our friends follow. We will be with them in the pursuit for truth.”

 

'WE ARE WITNESS TO THEIR JOURNALISM'

 

Stating that the court's decision was political, Disk Press-İş Central Anatolia Regional Representative Turgut Dedeoğlu said: “We are witnesses to our friends, we are witnesses to their journalism. We know their journalism. Even though the Turkish state says 'they are not journalists', they are journalists with their lifestyles, what they write and what they do. Journalism is the job of writing the truth, the courage to reveal the truth. We have seen many things that cannot be written or read through the Free Press. Even if their buildings are bombed or their distributors are murdered, they will continue to do their job. Journalism is not a crime. We will write and display that journalism is not a crime.”