Turkey: CFWIJ Demands Turkey To End Legal Harassment Against Women Journalists
Location: Turkey, Istanbul
Date: February 9, 2021Available in: 🇹🇷 Türkçe
Evrensel Newspaper columnist Ayşen Şahin was detained late last night. Ayşen was released shortly after her testimony was taken. The Coalition For Women In Journalism (CFWIJ) condemns the intimidation policies imposed on journalists for their journalistic coverages.
Evrensel Newspaper columnist Ayşen Şahin was detained during the 8 March Women's Platform meeting and taken to the police station in İstanbul. Her social media posts were cited as a reason for her detention. The journalist was charged with "inciting the public to hatred and hostility". Ayşen was released shortly after her statement.
The journalist announced her situation on the Twitter account, “Friends, the police are at the door, I am being taken to the police station Vatan. I couldn’t get a chance to let everyone know individually,” she said.
Fatih Polat, Evrensel Newspaper’s editor-in-chief, conveyed the detention process of Ayşen on his Twitter account. Polat reported that the journalist was first taken to Taksim First Aid Hospital.
According to Evrensel Newspaper, the reason for Ayşen Şahin's detention was her social media posts. Among the accusations is that pro-government reporter Hilal Kaplan targeted the journalist after her post of the video indicated the tradesman showing the location of the students participating in the Boğaziçi University protests to the police. Hilal Kaplan targeted the journalist, "Those who find and shout in the sentence "Homosexuality is heresy", target a man and his shop to a mass including terrorists." After the online smear campaign against Ayşen Şahin, she locked her Twitter account to the public.
After her release, Ayşen Şahin stated that her social media posts were not an element of a crime. She said, “We took our breath here as a result of distorting the video I put there with a journalistic reflex and transforming it into an element of pressure with a metaphor. But there is nothing to do. Now it exchanged for military duty,” “There is nothing in the post I shared. No criminal element. There is a complete detachment and distortion from its context, there is targeting in an organized way."
The Coalition For Women In Journalism condemns the intimidation policies implemented on the grounds of journalistic activities. Posts made by journalists on social media cannot constitute a crime. This situation overshadows the freedom of the press and expression. Journalism is not a crime.
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The Coalition For Women In Journalism is a global organization of support for women journalists. The CFWIJ pioneered mentorship for mid-career women journalists across several countries around the world, and is the first organization to focus on the status of free press for women journalists. We thoroughly document cases of any form of abuse against women in any part of the globe. Our system of individuals and organizations brings together the experience and mentorship necessary to help female career journalists navigate the industry. Our goal is to help develop a strong mechanism where women journalists can work safely and thrive.
Follow us on Instagram @womeninjournalism and Twitter @CFWIJ. Our website is WomenInJournalism.org and we can be reached at press@womeninjournalism.org
The Coalition For Women In Journalism closely monitors the incidents in Turkey with great concern. Since March 8, Women's Day, police violence against women journalists increasingly continues in the country. As the coalition, we urge the Turkish state to provide a free environment for journalists. Following the news is our most fundamental democratic right to report. We demand the immediate release of our detained colleagues. Journalism is not a crime. Journalism cannot be prevented.
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