Turkey: Journalist Durket Süren's Trial Adjourned For The Seventh Time - CFWIJ Reiterates, Journalism Is Not A Crime
Location: Turkey, Diyarbakir
Date: September 20, 2021Available in: 🇹🇷 Türkçe
The seventh hearing of the trial against journalist Durket Süren was held in Diyarbakır. Today, the court ruled again to wait for the digital examination report on Durket’s confiscated materials. The trial adjourned until December 13, 2021. The Coalition For Women In Journalism (CFWIJ) considers those postponed trials for various reasons to be aiming to intimidate journalists. We reiterate once again, journalism is not a crime. Journalist Durket Süren should be acquitted immediately.
The seventh hearing of the trial against the journalist was held today at Diyarbakır 11th High Criminal Court. Journalist Durket Süren faces charges of being affiliated with a terrorist organization, knowingly and willingly aiding an organization and spreading propaganda for an organization. She also sued for her social media posts and selling banned newspapers’ issues of Azadiya Welat and Özgür Gündem. The lawyers of Durket, Resul Temur and Yusuf Erdoğan were present in the courtroom. However, the journalist did not attend today.
During today’s hearing, the prosecution demanded the missing elements of the case be completed. The court, on the other hand, decided to wait for the report requested from the Diyarbakır Police Department regarding the confiscated digital materials of the journalist. The next hearing will be held on December 13, 2021.
Previously, the court made the same decision as today and adjourned the hearing.
Durken was detained in Diyarbakır, where she went to follow the news, because of a search warrant two years ago. The journalist is facing up to 20 years in prison if convicted. In the indictment, Durken’s social media posts, tape recordings and the sale of the banned newspapers are cited as evidence. Besides, the journalist's conversations with news sources regarding the news program she produced in 2017 and her membership in the Free Journalists Association are also considered as a crime.
The Coalition For Women In Journalism is utterly dismayed by the systematic efforts to suppress and intimidate journalists through the court. We demand the Turkish judiciary to acquit the journalist. Durket is a journalist and 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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