Turkiye: Women Press Freedom Vehemently Condemns the 6-Year Prison Sentence Handed Down to 8 Kurdish Journalists
Berivan Altan, Öznur Değer, Diren Yurtsever, and Zemo Ağgöz among those convicted on terror charges
Location: Turkiye, Ankara
Date: July 3, 2024
Women Press Freedom is appalled by the decision of the Ankara court to convict eight journalists, including four women journalists, from the Kurdish news outlet Mezopotamya Agency. The journalists have received prison sentences of 6 years and 3 months for being members of a terrorist organization. We strongly denounce these bogus convictions and harsh sentences of the eight journalists and demand that they be immediately overturned. This ruling, which was based on flimsy evidence, exemplifies the Turkish judiciary's efforts to criminalize journalism, particularly the Kurdish press. The Turkish authorities' continuous persecution of Kurdish journalists is unjust. We demand an end to this harassment and call on the international community to join us in condemning the actions of the Turkish courts, which have consistently been weaponized by authorities to suppress the press.
On July 3, 2024, the Ankara 4th High Criminal Court sentenced eight Kurdish journalists from the Mezopotamya Agency (MA) to 6 years and 3 months in prison.
The journalists, Berivan Altan, Öznur Değer, Diren Yurtsever, Zemo Ağgöz, and others, were charged with being members of a terrorist organization.
Three other journalists, Habibe Eren from JİNNEWS, Ceylan Şahinli from MA, and former MA intern Mehmet Günhan were acquitted.
Following the verdict, the sentenced journalists expressed their anger and disappointment with the court’s ruling.
“At the final hearing held today, we saw once again the biased attitude of the judiciary,” stated Öznur Değer. “By giving 6 years and 3 months in prison to 8 of us on the charge of ‘membership of a terrorist organization’ without any concrete evidence or data, the law was virtually trampled.”
Diren Yurtsever also denounced the legal process as rife with lawlessness and injustice, asserting that both journalism and society were unjustly penalized from the moment of their arrest through the trial proceedings.
“We have been practicing journalism in various media for a long time,” said Yurtsever. “Journalism itself is already a public domain. However, attempts were made to ‘illegalize’ all of our professional activities. Including the news we make, the programs we present, the tweets we send. In other words, our right to make and disseminate news was made illegal.”
The trial was criticized for its heavy reliance on secret witness testimonies and lack of concrete evidence. The lawyer for the journalists, Resul Temur, argued that the prosecution sought to discredit the journalists by labeling them as "so-called journalists" and accusing them of reporting on a terrorist organization's agenda without substantial evidence.
Temur defended the journalists’ credibility, stating that they had produced over 110,000 news stories, countering the prosecution's claim that they were not legitimate journalists.
The case against the journalists traces back to October 25, 2022, when police raided the homes of several journalists in various cities including Ankara, Istanbul, and Diyarbakır. The raids were part of an investigation by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office. Nine out of eleven journalists were arrested and spent almost seven months behind bars before being released pending trial.
Kurdish Journalists Persistently Persecuted
Kurdish journalists in Turkiye continue to face an alarming level of persecution and harassment from Turkish authorities. Mass raids, detentions, and arrests targeting Kurdish media outlets and journalists reveal a targeted effort to silence Kurdish voices and suppress reporting on Kurdish rights and issues.
By equating journalism on Kurdish issues with terrorism, authorities seek to criminalize legitimate forms of expression and silence dissent within the Kurdish community. The implications of this targeted persecution extend far beyond individual journalists. By silencing Kurdish voices and restricting coverage of Kurdish issues, Turkish authorities seek to control the narrative and prevent the dissemination of information that challenges their policies and actions in Kurdish-majority regions.
Women Press Freedom strongly denounces the unjust sentences of the Mezopotamya Agency journalists and demands their convictions be immediately overturned. Despite a lack of concrete evidence and reliance on secret witness testimonies, the court delivered its verdict. The Turkish judiciary has decided to criminalize journalism and stifle the Kurdish press with this appalling judgment. We stand in complete solidarity with the affected journalists, including Berivan Altan, Öznur Değer, Diren Yurtsever, and Zemo Ağgöz, and join them in denouncing the outrageous ruling based on flimsy evidence.
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