ByTurkish Minute
July 11, 2023
Eighteen Kurdish journalists, 15 of whom have been in pretrial detention since June 2022 on terrorism-related charges, appeared in court for the first hearing of their trial on Tuesday, the Artı Gerçek news website reported.
A total of 21 people, including 18 journalists, were detained in southeastern Diyarbakır province in June 2022. They were indicted on terrorism charges 10 months after their detention.
Fifteen of the 21 detainees, including Serdar Altan, co-chair of the Dicle Fırat Journalists Association (DFG), Mezopotamya news agency (MA) Editor-in-Chief Aziz Oruç and JinNews News Director Safiye Alagaş, were arrested after they had been held in custody for eight days, in a move that sparked outrage among opposition politicians, members of the press and rights activists.
Tuesday’s hearing attracted widespread attention from local and international press organizations and rights activists. The journalists charged with membership in a terrorist organization, a charge frequently faced by Kurdish journalists in Turkey due to their reports about Kurds’ problems and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey and much of the international community.
A prison sentence of up to 15 years is sought for the journalists, who are standing trial at the Diyarbakır 4th High Criminal Court.
The hearing was followed by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) Turkey representative Erol Önderoğlu, Turkish Journalists Union (TGS) President Gökhan Durmuş and PEN Norway representative Caroline Stockford in addition opposition lawmakers, union representatives and lawyers.
DFG Co-chair Altan, who was the first to present a defense, delivered his statement in Kurdish. He said just as Kurds and their identity are not recognized in Turkey, their media is not recognized, either.
“The Kurdish press has always been the subject of censorship and pressure. Our arrest is a sign of this,” he said, lamenting that the jailed journalists’ cameras and computers are shown as criminal evidence by the pro-government media.
Altan said although prosecutors drafted a 728-page indictment against them, there is actually not any concrete evidence of crime in the text.
He said although the indictment accuses him of membership in a terrorist organization, there is no evidence supporting the charge.
“How can a person be a terrorist organization member only by speaking,” he asked.
One of the jailed journalists, Ömer Çelik, said producing a TV program in Kurdish and speaking in Kurdish are seen as criminal activity, according to the indictment. Çelik said everyone is aware that if the government had not ordered the prosecution of the journalists, there would not by any such trial today.
According to the journalists, they are being punished due to their journalistic activities and their coverage of issues related to Kurds and the country’s Kurdish issue.
The Kurdish issue, a term prevalent in Turkey’s public discourse, refers to the demand for equal rights by the country’s Kurdish population and their struggle for recognition.
A statement released by RSF Turkey representative Önderoğlu on the RSF website accused Turkey of wrongly considering that the professional activities of certain journalists are signs of legitimization of the PKK, saying that the authorities include in the accusations the collaboration with local Kurdish production companies (Pel, Ari and Piya), the sharing of posts on social networks on the Kurdish issue and their use of the term “war” for conflicts in northern Syria and northern Iraq.
“The recurring use of abusive detention had made Turkey in 2016, 2017 and 2018 one of the biggest prisons for journalists in the world. Despite a dozen releases over the past two months, the situation for media professionals remains just as alarming. Justice must once and for all stop using these political detentions and release the 15 journalists imprisoned in an abusive manner,” said Önderoğlu.
Rights groups routinely accuse Turkey of undermining media freedom by arresting journalists and shutting down critical media outlets, especially since President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan survived a failed coup in July 2016.
Turkey is ranked 165th in the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) 2023 World Press Freedom Index, among 180 countries, not far from North Korea, which occupies the bottom of the list.
Representatives of journalist unions, organizations and political parties expressed their solidarity with the 15 Kurdish journalists standing trial in Diyarbakır today after 13 months in pre-trial detention.
ANF
AMED
Tuesday, 11 Jul 2023,
As part of an investigation carried out by the Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, 22 people, 20 of them journalists, were detained in raids on houses and media outlets in many Amed-centered cities on 8 June 2022. Among those detained, were JinNews Director Safiye Alagaş, Dicle Fırat Journalists Association (DGF) Co-chair Serdar Altan, Mesopotamia Agency (MA) editor Aziz Oruç, Xwebûn Editor-in-Chief Mehmet Ali Ertaş, journalists Zeynel Abidin Bulut, Ömer Çelik, Mazlum Doğan Güler, İbrahim Koyuncu, Neşe Toprak, Elif Üngür, Abdurrahman Öncü, Suat Doğuhan, Remziye Temel, Ramazan Geciken, Lezgin Akdeniz and Mehmet Şahin were arrested 8 days later by the court they were brought to.
After 10 months, an indictment was prepared against 18 journalists, 3 of them not in prison, demanding 7 years, 6 months to 15 years in prison for "membership in a terrorist organization".The imprisoned journalists have appeared in court today after 13 months in custody. Dicle Fırat Journalists Association (DFG), Mesopotamia Women Journalists Platform (MKGP), Journalists Union of Turkey (TGS), Contemporary Journalists Association (ÇGD), DİSK Basın-İş, MLSA, Journalists Protection Committee (CPJ) and representatives of many professional organizations are attending the hearing. In addition, lawyers who are members of Amsterdam Law Offices, legal organizations such as Amed Bar Association, Lawyers Association for Freedom (ÖHD), representatives of MED-DER and IHD, as well as deputies from the Green Left Party, HDP and CHP are following the hearing.
A press statement was made by the DFG and Mesopotamia Women Journalists’ Platform in front of the courthouse with the participation of several journalists, organizations, NGOs and deputies.
Journalist Hüseyin Aykol pointed out that, for the past 34 years, the reports prepared by the Kurdish press have disturbed the governments which, he said, have taken all kinds of measures to prevent Kurdish journalism.
“Our colleagues have been imprisoned, killed or forced into exile, while our newspapers were shut down, and offices bombed. Still, we have continued to do our work. Repression against us has increased lately and many of our colleagues have been put in prison because they did not want us to be on the ground to cover the elections, which was considered a turning point both for the government and the opposition. Our colleagues jailed in Ankara were released following the first hearing and we also expect our colleagues here to be released today. Regardless of the repression, we will continue doing journalism,” Aykol said.
The Journalists Union of Turkey (TGS) President Gökhan Durmuş defined today’s hearing as one of the most important trials of the press in Turkey’s recent history. “Having awaited the indictment for months, they appeared in court 13 months after their arrests. Had they stood trial earlier, they could have been released already. Journalists are taken into custody but there is no crime in question. Our colleagues will eventually be released but they would not have spent such a long time in prison if a fair legal system existed. We will stand in solidarity with our imprisoned colleagues and prove that journalism is a public service. We will do journalism and convey our news to our people.”
The Committee of Journalists Vice President Yusuf Kanlı said: “The press is going through challenging times and conditions, as was the case in the past and is today. Our colleagues have been deprived of their liberty for 13 months only because they wrote news. Journalism is no crime. We expect our colleagues to be acquitted today and we hope that just heavy prices will not be paid anymore.”
MLSA Co-Director Veysel Ok said: “Our colleagues are imprisoned mainly because they exposed the state violence in relation with the Kurdish issue lately and reported about violations of rights. We will do whatever we can for their release.”
Green Left Party MP for Diyarbakır, Cengiz Çandar, defined the hearing as “one of the disgraceful events in Turkey’s legal history” and “a milestone in the struggle for press freedom in Turkey”.
“President Erdoğan is having talks at the NATO Summit at the moment. Turkey’s path to the European Union passes through Diyarbakır. And the path from Diyarbakır to the European Union passes through the recognition of Kurds’ rights and the freedom of the press. Without these conditions, all the paths to democracy would remain blocked. This case against 15 journalists, who have been held in pre-trial detention for 13 months, also shows that the Kurdish media is not alone as the media representatives of Turkey also speak out here today. We will claim the freedom of the Kurdish people and the press. The release of journalists will mark a step towards the Kurdish people’s freedom of information.”
CHP MP Sezgin Tanrıkulu pointed out that the indictment against journalists was full of arguments that do not accord with the law. “There is no justifiable evidence even, but only fabricated accounts of confessors and secret witnesses. This case and hearing show how important journalism is.”
The imprisoned Kurdish journalists appeared in court today after 13 months in the case where 18 journalists are standing trial. Journalism unions and organizations, as well as opposition MPs were present in the hearing to support them.
Click to read the article in Turkish / Kurdish
The first hearing of the case in which 18 journalists are standing trial, 15 of whom are imprisoned, started to be heard at the Diyarbakır 4th Heavy Penal Court.
Imprisoned journalists Ömer Çelik, Mehmet Ali Ertaş, Serdar Altan, Mehmet Şahin, and Zeynel Abidin Bulut took the floor in the hearing today, all of them in Kurdish and asserted that it was the Kurdish press, Kurdish journalism, or the media where the Kurdish problem is discussed that is being charged in this case.
As the first thing, the lawyer of the journalists, Resul Temur, told that the prosecutor who prepared the indictment for the case file, and a member of the panel of judges were married, and demanded recusation. The chief judge refused the demand.
The chief judge stated that no use of computers or cell phones will be allowed in the courtroom, and the journalists who are present at the hearing were heard to object.
Serdar Altan: "We were the voice of the oppressed"
After the summary of the indictment was read out, Serdar Altan, one of the imprisoned journalists and the co-chairperson of the Dicle Fırat Journalists Association, defended himself in the court in Kurdish.
Taking the floor for one hour and 45 minutes, Altan told about the pressure against the press from the Ottoman period until today. Reminding Hasan Fehmi, killed on April 6, 1909, he said that journalists were always under threat in this region.
"Those who did not approve of the Kurds and the Kurdish press in those days, do not accept it today either," he said.
"This is no ordinary operation"
Altan underlined that they were detained on June 8, 2022, and later remanded in custody. He went on to say that he and his friends were unjustly detained while making preparations for commemorating their journalist friend Hafız Akdemir, killed by Hizbullah on June 8, 1992.
"The fact that we have been taken into custody on the day our friend was killed shows that this operation is a special one. This is not an ordinary operation. They have assigned a special prosecutor. Our detention period was extended to 8 days. A confidentiality order was imposed on the case file. The police came to and did not leave the institutions where we work for one month. Journalism tools and materials that all journalists use were regarded as elements of crime," Altan explained.
"The indictment is not worth responding to"
Altan also stated that no one told them about the charges against them. This is a major problem and a punishment by itself, he argued.
Now that the indictment was finally prepared after so long, he said it was not even worth responding to.
"They are making fun of us. They are trying to create confusion. What is in the indictment? There is no crime, there is no evidence. They kept us here for 10 months and searched for evidence so that they can blame us. They could not find it during our detention, then they found an anonymous witness," Altan said.
He told the hearing that they requested the anonymous witness to be brought to the court, which was rejected. Personally, I am charged with being a member of an organization, but there is no evidence," he said.
"We came to the court not to give an account, but to call you to account. Why have you kept us away from our beloved, from the streets, from our occupation for 13 months?" Altan said.
There was a break in the hearing after Altan completed his defense. Journalism organizations and Green Left Party (YSP) and Republican People's Party (CHP) MPs gave statements to the press in front of the courthouse during the break.
Çelik: Is broadcasting a program a crime?
Imprisoned journalist Ömer Çelik took the floor after the break and defended himself in Kurdish.
He stated that they do not accept the accusations. "I want to talk about what the indictment includes. Is broadcasting a program a crime? The prosecutor has pointed to the term "ethnic." All the six programs mentioned in the indictment are related to discussions on the Kurdish problem."
"Broadcasting in our native tongue is a crime according to the prosecutor. However, this is a global right. Asking a question about a sentence that [Recep Tayyip] Erdoğan has used for Abdullah Öcalan, to Ömer Öcalan, an MP of the People's Democratic Party (HDP) is shown as a crime. This MP is still serving in the parliament, how can this question be a crime? I have made many programs but six of them have been included in the accusations. Many of them cover the issues discussed throughout Turkey. It is a program that many politicians in Turkey have attended. How can it be criminal?"
"The prosecutor is claiming that I was instructed to ask these questions, but without any concrete evidence. The prosecutor is making claims but cannot prove them. There is no single evidence that we are being instructed."
"The government does not want the Kurdish problem to be discussed"
"As a journalist, I prepare my programs myself. Both the content and the presentation. The prosecutor is disturbed that I talk about the issues related to the problems of the Kurdish people with my guests in my program. The government does not want the Kurdish problem to be discussed."
After Çelik, Zeynel Abidin Bulut took the floor and defended himself again in Kurdish.
Bulut underlined that if it was not for this journalism activity, for the Kurdish journalists, none of the massacres such as that of Ceylan Önkol, Uğur Kaymaz, or Roboski would be known. These were all proven by the Kurdish journalists Bulut told the court and said that this was what was disturbing the government and the state.
The only newspaper in Kurdish standing trial
Next, Mehmet Ali Ertaş also defended himself in Kurdish.
"We are here today because of our programs in Kurdish. There is a single printed newspaper in Kurdish and it is standing trial here today. This means that it is the values of the Kurdish people that are standing trial here. We are being told that we cannot defend the values of our people," Ertaş said.
The last one to address the hearing today was journalist Mehmet Şahin. In his defense made in Kurdish, he said, "Today I am here with my mother's language."
Telling that his profession as a teacher that he carried out for 26 years, was taken away from him after the attempted coup of July 15 in 2016, and it was after this that he became a journalist. "Kurdish journalists are suffering oppression as usual. The prosecution has taken on the task of eliminating Kurdish journalism," Şahin said.
The chief judge closed the hearing after listening to Şahin, in order to continue it tomorrow (on July 12).
Organizations of journalists were present in the hearing
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) Turkey representative Erol Önderoğlu, Turkey Journalists Union (TGS) Chairperson Gökhan Durmuş, DİSK Basın-İş Union Ankara Representative Turgut Dedeoğlu, Media and Law Studies Co-Director lawyer Veysel Ok, Engin Deniz İpek from IPI, Caroline Stockford from PEN Norway Turkey desk, Dicle Fırat Journalists Association (DFG), Mezopotamia Women Journalists Platform (MKGP), Progressive Journalists Association (ÇGD), Committee for Protection of Journalists (CPJ), lawyer members of Amsterdam Law Clinics, Diyarbakır Bar, Free Lawyers Association (ÖHD), Human Rights Association (İHD) were present in the hearing. Green Left Party Diyarbakır MPs Cengiz Çandar, Adalet Kaya and Republican People's Party (CHP) Diyarbakır MP Sezgin Tanrıkulu and Utku Çakırözer were also among those who participated in order to observe the hearing.
(EMK/RT/PE)
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