Prosecutor Lectures on Journalism in Trial of ‘Womanly State of the Mountain’

Click to read the article Turkish / Kurdish

The first hearing in the trial of journalist Arzu Demir was held today (September 27) at İstanbul 13th Criminal Court of Justice. The attorneys of Demir, tried due to her book with the title “Womanly State of the Mountain (Dağın Kadın Hali)” demanded that she be acquitted on the grounds that the charges were only pressed one and a half years after her book being published which contravened the Press Law.

Many lawyers, journalists and activist women have observed the hearing which was also attended by the President of Journalists Union of Turkey; Uğur Güç.

The court has ruled that a piece of opinion be prepared and the next hearing be held on November 8, at 11.45 a.m. to submit the case to the Public Prosecutor’s Office.

Demir, in her defence told that charges were pressed against her before her testimony was even taken. She added that the bill of indictment had stated that “she did not appear before any law enforcement unit or the Public Prosecutor’s Office” although she indeed had visited prosecutor Gökhan Yolasığmaz. Yet he refused to take her testimony and noted that she should go to the police to testify instead; Demir noted.

Criticizing that the bill of indictment was trying to “depict the functions of press and included remarks such as her book did not consist of current news and did not concern the public opinion”, Demir said that the Prosecutor’s Office considered itself a journalist organization or trade body and noted “Not the judicial authorities, but the ethical boards of trade bodies are the authorities to discuss the properties of report or an article”.  

“Besides, in times, in which everybody discuss PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party) only by taking sides with or against it; me visiting the members of PKK, interviewing them and writing about them as a journalist can’t be considered out of the scope of current issues. On the contrary, it is the very journalism itself. Taken the great interest the readers have shown for the book into account, it a book which has caught up with the actual affairs”. 

What had happened?

Journalist Arzu Demir was put on trial on charges of “propagandizing for an [illegal] organization”, “praising the crime and the criminal” and “inciting to crime” in her book titled “Womanly State of the Mountain”.

Besides the claims of “propagandising for the PKK”, the bill of indictment also included remarks that the respective interviews in the book were not current news and did not concern the public opinion.

The book “Womanly State of the Mountain”, which comprised interviews with 11 guerilla women, was published by Ceylan Publishing House in November 2014. Following its 7th issue, İstanbul 3rd Criminal Judgeship of Peace has ruled that the book be pulled off the shelves.

The book addresses the creation and development of the roles of womanhood and manhood in the mountains based on personal experiences of guerilla women. While seeking for an answer to the question, why women take it to the mountains, Demir also expresses her personal opinions regarding “arms, mountain, death, love and sexuality”.

About Arzu Demir

Arzu Demir was born in 1974 and graduated from Yıldız Technical University Faculty of Environmental Engineering. She has been working as a journalist for 17 years and is currently active in Etkin News Agency (ETHA) and Fırat News Agency (ANF). She is also among the 46 Kurdish press employees who were put on trial in the lawsuit of press members of Kurdistan Communities’ Union (KCK).

(ÇT/DG)