3 Journalists Taken into Custody

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Millet daily’s former Editor-in-Chief Değer Özergün, Zaman daily correspondent Bayram Kaya, and Aydınlık daily’s correspondent Mehmet Bozkurt have been taken into custody.

Karşı daily correspondent Ufuk Köroğlu couldn’t be detained despite the raid as he is abroad.

According to Medyaradar’s report, raids took place this morning (April 4). The news website stated that Bozkurt is being accused as to the period when he was working as administrator, and that the operations are being carried out by Finance Division.

Following the detention of the journalists, Köroğlu expressing he has been abroad for his education on his Twitter account said he fell out of work three times in 23 months between the dates of December 17, 2014 and November 1, 2015.

Köroğlu in his tweets thanked the Justice and Development Party (AKP) for causing him to become unemployed, which led him to “make up for his English education”.

Köroğlu also said that he financed his education with the material compensation he received from the reemployment lawsuit he brought against Sabah daily.

About the journalists

Değer Özergün had worked at Hürriyet and Sabah dailies, and worked as editorial coordinator at tabloid magazines. Özergün had become Millet’s Editor-in-Chief in October 2014.

A probe was launched into Kaya because of his report named “Shady directors of the [Presidential] Palace”.

Mehmet Bozkurt was detained within the scope of Ergenekon investigation in 2011 and then released. Bozkurt was sentenced to 9 years and 3 months of prison in 2013. (EA/TK)