Indictment against journalist Aziz Oruç in the 7th month of his arrest

* Photo: Aziz Oruç / Facebook (on the right, standing)

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The Ağrı 2nd Heavy Penal Court has accepted the bill of indictment filed against journalist Aziz Oruç, who was arrested after being deported from Iran to Turkey and sent to Patnos Type L Closed Prison in Turkey's eastern province of Ağrı on December 18, 2019.

According to the indictment, Oruç has been charged with "being a member of a terrorist organization" and "propagandizing for a terrorist organization." His first hearing will be held on July 21, 2020.

As reported by Ece Koçak from the Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA), five other defendants will also stand trial together with Oruç.

These five people are charged with "knowingly and willingly aiding a terrorist organization" on the ground that they enabled the journalist to be picked up from somewhere near the Iranian border.

Social media accounts in the indictment

Among the documents cited in the indictment as criminal evidence are camera footage of vehicles with three different license plates, two investigative reports, open source investigative reports on Aziz Oruç's social media accounts and Historical Traffic Search (HTS) records.

The open source investigative reports on his Facebook and Twitter accounts refer to his social media posts as criminal evidence for "propagandizing for a terrorist organization." That the journalist liked the Facebook pages of Roj News, a Europe-based Kurdish news outlet, and İMC TV, which was closed by a Statutory Decree in 2016, is also cited as criminal evidence.

His interview with Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) member Nasır Yağız, who went on a hunger strike, demanding that the isolation of imprisoned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan be ended, is also among the evidence brought against Aziz Oruç.

On December 14, 2019, when Oruç and other suspects were still in custody, a news article was published on Mezopotamya Agency with the title "Details of the incident shared: Aziz Oruç abandoned to death on the border." This article is now also a criminal evidence in the indictment.

While Oruç is also charged with "being a member of a terrorist organization," the only evidence for this accusation is the conviction derived from the fact that "he entered the country through illegal ways, which suggests his membership of PKK/KCK terrorist organization."

Journalist who helped him also on trial

Among the ones standing trial, but not arrested as part of the same lawsuit with Aziz Oruç are also Mezopotamya Agency editor Dicle Müftüoğlu, Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Ağrı MP Abdullah Koç's consultant Yücel İlhan and HDP Ağrı MP Berdan Öztürk's driver Turgay İlboğa.

What happened?

Journalist Aziz Oruç, a reporter for the Dicle News Agency (DİHA) closed by a Statutory Decree, had been living in Iraq for the past three years due to the lawsuits filed against him in Turkey.

Leaving Iraq for Iran to reach Europe through Armenia, he was taken into custody at Armenia border gate. Subjected to police violence in custody in Armenia, Oruç was turned over to the soldiers of Iran.

Oruç was forced to cross the border to Turkey through the wire fence on Turkey-Iran border on December 11. He was taken into custody with HDP Doğubayazıt District Co-Chair Abdullah Ekelek, whom he asked for help, when they were about to leave the city on December 11. (HA/SD)