Turkey: Four Women Journalists Arrested After Eight Days Of Detention
Location: Turkey, Diyarbakır
Date: June 16, 2022Available in: 🇹🇷 Türkçe
After the simultaneous police raids in Diyarbakır, 20 journalists, including six women, were detained for eight days, and 16 journalists, including four women, were arrested and sent to prison early this morning. Two women journalists were released with judicial control. The Coalition For Women In Journalism demands an end to the escalating media crackdown on the free press and the immediate release of journalists arrested on the grounds of their professional activities. Journalism is not a crime.
Eight days after the extended detention period, 16 journalists, including four women, were transferred to the prosecutor's office and arrested by court decision.
According to the official press statement that Diyarbakır’s security officials, the production companies in Diyarbakır, Pel, Piya, and Ari Productions, were producing TV shows for the Sterk TV based in Belgium and Medya Haber TV in the United Kingdom, which are allegedly broadcasting TV’s about the pro-Kurdish militant group, the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
The police directorate said in a statement that 82 hours of 102 programs under nine titles regarding media organizations have been investigated. They also examined the contents of the TV programs. Jin News news agencies were also investigated at the same time.
According to the BBC Turkish Service, the Diyarbakır’s Police Department allegedly claimed the 20 detainees were investigated with the charges of “spreading terrorist propaganda", "transferring the instructions to the top management of the organization" and "making news to announce the air operation of the F-16s taking off from Diyarbakır by passing the last-minute information to the members of the organization".
16 of the journalists who were referred to Diyarbakır Court yesterday following their statements at the prosecutor's office were sent to prison. The list of arrested women journalists' names:
Safiye Alagaş, Director of JINNEWS
Nese Toprak, Journalist
Elif Ungur, Journalist
Remziye Temel, Journalist
JINNEWS Editor Gülşen Koçuk and journalist Esmer Tunç were released on probation.
The accusations against journalists have yet to be finalized and their case files remain confidential.
The Coalition For Women In Journalism demands an end to the persecution of journalists in Turkey, which has reached an extremely alarming level. Journalism cannot be arrested. The free press cannot be silenced through legal harassment, arbitrary detentions, and arrests. These attempts are aimed to intimidate the journalists with the extended detention periods to add various allegations to the files opened against them on baseless charges. We demand the authorities adopt an approach in line with the criteria of press freedom and allow journalists to report freely. Arrested journalists should be released immediately.
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.
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