Location: Turkey,  Diyarbakır      
Date: June  3, 2022

Available in: 🇹🇷 Türkçe

**Updated June 6, 2022

Dicle Fırat Journalists Association (DFG) co-chairperson and Mesopotamia Agency (MA) editor Dicle Müftüoğlu, who has been detained for four days, has been referred to the prosecutor's office to give a statement. The journalist’s proceeding has been completed and transferred to the court with a judicial control request. The journalist is accused of transferring money to her imprisoned colleagues Nedim Türfent and Ziya Ataman.

The Coalition For Women In Journalism (CFWIJ) is alarmed at the unannounced and unexplained arrest. Such pressure tactics by law enforcement agencies are deplorable. We call for her immediate release. We call on the authorities to immediately release the journalist and disclose the basis of their actions. The charges against the journalist, if any, must be disclosed. 

Security forces reportedly raided the journalist’s home early, during her absence at home, on the morning of June 3, 2022. According to MA, she was called to give a statement to Diyarbakır’s police station and taken into custody without cause. The journalist has yet to be permitted access to her lawyers as well. 

DFG’s co-chairperson Serdar Ataman reported that Dicle was held for transferring money to her imprisoned colleagues Nedim Türfent and Ziya Ataman. Nedim, correspondent of shuttered pro-Kurdish Dicle News Agency (DİHA), has been imprisoned over his journalistic activities. On May 12, 2016, he was arrested a day after reporting on Turkish police forces’ ill-treatment of Turkish and Kurdish workers. Soon after his footage was published, he started receiving death threats from the police and was targeted online. Ziya, on the other hand, was an intern reporter for DİHA, when he was arrested. He was taken into custody on April 10, 2016, and arrested a day after on charges of "membership in a terrorist organization".

 On January 14, 2021, Diyarbakır’s Prosecution Office opened an investigation against Dicle over the allegations of "spreading propaganda for a terrorist organization". Prosecutor cited the coverage she shared on her social media accounts as criminal. When Dicle gave the statement, she said she shared the posts as a journalist and the posts did not constitute a crime.

 She was also previously sued for the social media post she shared in 2014. In the indictment, the prosecution asked for the journalist to be sentenced to one to five years in prison on the charge of spreading propaganda for a terrorist organization.

 At the first hearing of the case on December 2, 2020, Dicle did not accept the accusations and demanded the charges be dropped. She explained that the photo she shared on her social media account as part of her coverage for the news agency she worked for at that time. Despite her defense, the prosecutor submitted his opinion and asked the court to seek a conviction on the charge of spreading propaganda for a terrorist organization through the media outlet. In the end, the court sentenced journalist Dicle Müftüoğlu to 15 months in prison.

 Dicle is the third woman journalist among those arrested without a cause, as CFWIJ documented in 2022. Counter-terrorism officials raided journalist Nurcan Yalçın’s house early morning on February 4 and arrested her without cause. After four-day detention, the journalist was released and a new lawsuit was filed against her. The journalist was sued with an accusation of “aiding an organization knowingly and willingly” over her reports between 2015-2016. On May 17, 2022, the journalist appeared before Diyarbakır court to defend herself and the prosecution submitted his final argument and sought conviction of the journalist "aiding the organization knowingly and willingly" charge. He accused the journalist of interviewing alleged members of the armed organization, filming the figures, and making speeches to support its members morally. Giving additional time to complete the defenses against the opinion, the court adjourned the next trial until July 5, 2022.

 MA’s Zeynep Durgut was another journalist who was taken into custody without cause and kept in detention for four days. Police officials raided MA reporter Zeynep Durgut’s house in Şırnak on February 14 and took her into custody. Zeynep was under custody for four days. During the first 24 hours of her detention, she was restricted to see her lawyer. She was released after four days and the court imposed a travel ban and judicial measures on Zeynep. 

 The Coalition For Women In Journalism is extremely concerned over the actions of law enforcement and calls for Dicle’s immediate release. The journalist was arrested when she went to testify herself in the police station and no reason was given. Her right to privacy, her freedom, and her rights as a citizen and a journalist were all disregarded by the authorities. We condemn the persistent legal harassment of the journalist and demand that the grounds for her arrest must be disclosed immediately. The rapidly declining space for independent press in Turkey is a matter of grave concern and treacherous for any democracy.

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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