Turkey: Journalists From Jinnews And Mesopotamia Agency Arrested For Reporting On An Inhumane Torture Committed By The Military
Location: Turkey
Date: October 9, 2020Available in: 🇹🇷 Türkçe
Jinnews reporter Sehriban Abi, journalist Nazan Sala and Mesopotamia Agency correspondents Adnan Bilen and Cemil Ugur got arrested today. Following the arrest, a twitter campaign started with the Turkish hashtag #GazetecilikYargilanamaz, meaning journalism cannot be put on trial. The Coalition For Women In Journalism joined the campaign with full awareness that Sehriban Abi and Nazan Sala didn't commit a crime but they were doing their jobs in exposing the truth.
On October 6, 2020, the journalists, two of which are women, were detained during the raid at the Mesopotamia Agency’s Van office. The search warrant was launched over their reporting on Kurdish villagers named Servet Turgut and Osman Siban getting tortured and thrown off from a national army helicopter. One of the victims of the torture, Servet Turgut, died from his injuries on September 30. Considering journalists’ meetings with anonymous sources as “an act of crime”, the prosecutor issued a confidentiality order on the investigation file. The other so-called reasons for the charges were stated as ‘reporting on societal events to the detriment of the government’ and ‘being a member of a terrorist organization’. However, prosecution in the country has been rather biased, in contrast to the political neutrality that it needs and Bangalore rules on judges and prosecutors binding them with principles of impartiality. Its decision making processes have also been strongly influenced by the government’s politically-polarizing and unliberal orientation. This case of the four journalists is no exception to that. In fact, Van public prosecutor has proved this by liking a provocative tweet against the reporters posted by a website named Van Newspaper.
Over the years, Mesopotamia Agency has systematically been bombarded with pressures from the Turkish government. Jin News, being the only news agency with all-female reporters in the country, has also been in the radar of the government for quite some time. Not surprisingly, Jin News journalists also have been constantly facing detainments and legal harassments from the government. The Coalition For Women In Journalism demands the authorities to make charges against real crimes against humanity, rather than putting politically-polarized pressures on press freedom in the country.
Regarding the punishment of the claimed ‘crimes', Turkish penalty code article 220 states the following: ‘Any person who becomes a member of an organisation established to commit offences shall be sentenced to a penalty of imprisonment for a term of one to three years. If the organisation is armed, the penalty stated will be increased from one fourth to one half. If an offence is committed in the course of the organisation’s activities, then an additional penalty shall be imposed for such offences.’ Accordingly, the journalists may possibly face an imprisonment penalty of 4.5 years, which is open to extensions. These already groundless accusations have led to the arrest of the four journalists as the prosecution decided for an arrest during the trial today. As the journalists were sent to the jail, their assigned lawyers testified that they will be appealing to the court decision. As it can easily be seen, the linguistic style of the law is kept rather ambiguous and open for interpretation. In fact, implementation of this very law has resulted in mass imprisonments of journalists in Turkey. Currently, four women journalists are behind bars for fulfilling their journalistic duties, with Sehriban and Nazan the number now increasing to six.
Apart from the four journalists mentioned, Yeni Yaşam newspaper distributor Fehim Çetiner and former distributor Şükran Erdem were also charged of “being a member of a terrorist organization”. At the hearing today, the court decided to release them. Fehim and Şükran’s release is relieving, however CFWIJ finds judicial control measures and travel bans put on them as a serious breach of their fundamental rights.
The Coalition for Women in Journalism stands in solidarity with the journalists and their commitment to truthful reporting. We strongly condemn the shameful charges against them and demand the judiciary to overturn the decision and respect press freedom.
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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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