Turkey: Journalist Şerife Oruç's Trial Adjourned For The 17th Time - The Journalist Must Be Acquitted Immediately
Location: Turkey, Batman
Date: June 24, 2021Available in: 🇹🇷 Türkçe
The trial against the closed Dicle News Agency (DİHA) reporter Şerife Oruç on the charge of being affiliated with a terrorist organisation was adjourned for the 17th time. The next hearing will be held on November 11, 2021. The Coalition For Women In Journalism (CFWIJ) denounces the constant legal harassment to intimidate journalists. The trial must be dismissed and Şerife must be acquitted from all charges immediately. Journalism is not a crime.
The 17th hearing of the trial in which DİHA reporter Şerife Oruç was tried on charges of being a member of a terrorist organisation was held at the Batman 2nd High Criminal Court today. The court adjourned the next hearing to November 11, 2021, giving the prosecutor additional time to complete the missing elements and ruling an arrest warrant be issued for the witness who could not be found.
Journalist Şerife Oruç was detained at Batman while covering the news in the field and was arrested on July 5, 2016, on charges of being a member of a terrorist organization. Şerife, who was prosecuted on terrorism charges, was released on 9 July 2018. Şerife was imprisoned for two years. She was detained again with an arrest warrant the day after her release from prison. She was freed a day after her detention.
In the 15th hearing of the case, the prosecutor requested additional time from the court for preparing his opinion about the case and asked the journalist to be tried for the crime of "Breaking the Unity of the State and the Unity of the Country" regulated in Article 302 of the Turkish Penal Code. The lawyer of the journalist, Mesut Aydın, stated that the prosecutor's office was trying to extend the case and argued that there were no conditions that would require his client to be sued from Article 302. Şerife’s lawyer had also requested the objection of the witness testimony whose presence was unknown.
In the previous hearing, the court gave additional time for witnesses to inquire about their testimonies.
The Coalition For Women In Journalism monitors journalist Şerife Oruç’s case closely. We believe that the pressure applied to journalists prosecuted for the journalism profession is intended to intimidate and silence. Once again, we demand the Turkish state to end pressure on press freedom. Journalism is not a crime.
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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