Turkey: Court rejected appeals against 16 Kurdish journalists’ pre-trial detention
Location: Turkey, IstanbulDate: August 25, 2022
Turkish court rejected appeals to release 16 Kurdish journalists from pre-trial detention in Diyarbakir arrested on simultaneous police raids in June. Diyarbakir court’s decision refused the bit to release arrested journalists, on charges of “membership of terrorist organization”, ruling that the arrests were “accordance with law”. The Coalition For Women In Journalism (CFWIJ) denounces Diyarbakir court’s decision to reject the appeals against pre-trial detention of 16 Kurdish journalists, including 4 women. CFWIJ stands in solidarity with them and calls on Turkish authorities to stop jailing pro-Kurdish journalists, systematically targeted in political prosecutions.
Turkish authorities detained several journalists on Wednesday, June 8 in Diyarbakir, on allegations to combat terrorism. According to news reports at least 20 people were detained for eight days, of which 16 were journalists including four women journalists.
Diyarbakir Police raided on pro-Kurdish newsrooms and journalists’ homes, confiscating computer hard drives, related work equipment and journalists’ phones on the grounds of their professional activities.
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 official press statement, production companies in Diyarbakir, 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 pro-Kurdish militant group, the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
The police authorities said in a statement that they found 82 hours of 102 programs under nine titles regarding media organizations being investigated. They also examined the contents of the TV programs. Diyarbakir’s police officials raided the newsroom of the pro-Kurdish website Jin News, confiscating computer hard drives. 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 instructions to the top management of the organization".
Coalition For Women In Journalism reiterates its call for the release of Kurdish journalists. CFWIJ demands an end to the persecution of journalists in Turkey, which has reached an extremely alarming level of press freedom deterioration.. Authorities in Diyarbakir should drop all charges against the media members. 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 undermining press freedom. We demand the authorities adopt an approach in line with the criteria of press freedom and allow journalists to report freely regardless of political persuasion
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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