'We will continue to write what they don't want to be revealed'

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Ahead of the second hearing of the case about disclosing the identity of a National Intelligence Organization (MIT) member who was killed in Libya, journalists and press organizations held a press meeting at İstanbul Courthouse in Çağlayan.

Along with Barış Terkoğlu, one of the defendant journalists who was released from prison after the first hearing, lawmakers from the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) and the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), independent MP Ahmet Şık, Turkish Journalists' Association (TGC) Chair Gökhan Durmuş, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) Turkey Representative Erol Önderoğlu, DİSK Basın-İş Union Chair Faruk Eren, Evren newspaper's editor-in-chief, attorneys of the journalists and citizens attended the meeting.

People hold placards that read, "Journalism is not a crime", "Freedom for journalists", "Journalists are imprisoned, democracy is lame, we are with you."

"A state secret"

Having spent four months behind bars before his release, Barış Terkoğlu read out a statement in the name of the journalists on trial.

"We lost count of the times we gathered here, in front of this courthouse. We don't remember how many times we cried out loud for justice. We lost count of how many times we carried banners of journalists who have been taken hostage with the help of law," he said.

"We're not complaining. We are as determined as the ordinariness of the mindset that arrests journalists upon flimsy grounds. That's what we're trying to tell. This time, we're here to be the voice of three journalists, colleagues in jail.

"Barış Pehlivan, Murat Ağırel and Hülya Kılınç have been under arrest in Silivri Prison for six months. Surely, it has been a news story that was presented as a pretext to tie their hands.

It's such a news story that, even after the President announced it to millions, its content was still treated as "state secret"!

It's such a story that even after the news was shared by thousands including the village registrar then former brothers in arms, it got disclosed "for the very first time"!

It's such a news story that, even after the head of the Turkish Intelligence Agency sent a wreath to the funeral, it was "unnoticeable"!

It's such a news story that, even though it talked about a funeral attended by hundreds, it was rated as "classified"!

It's such a news story that, even though the protocol attending the funeral posed for pictures, the filming was said to be a "secret" one!

"We know that those who draft the scripts to put journalists in jail, produce crimes out of public interviews that they embellish with unreal references, do not also believe in their own indictments.

"We know that those who punch our friends in jail, keep them in prison during a pandemic, oblige them to torture by isolation, wish that corruption, injustices, abuses in this country would never be reported again.

"We will soon step into the courtroom and watch the trial of handcuffed journalists, sitting in defendants' chairs.

"Whatever is the outcome, we can see the ending of this movie that different people have been producing over the years.

"I assure you that the ending of this mindset will be the same as their predecessors' that tried to silence journalists with plots, conspiracies they've created. We, however, regardless of our names, will keep writing whatever they wish to remain hidden.

"Yesterday, today, tomorrow..."

Union chair: We will continue the struggle

Speaking after Terkoğlu, DİSK Basın-İş Chair Faruk Eren said, "Journalists are continued to be tried at courthouses. Thirty journalists will appear before the court in a month. Three of them are at the court today. We want them to be released immediately. Freedom of the press and expression is disregarded. We won't tolerate that. We will continue the struggle until democracy and freedom of the press are established in the country. Journalism is not a crime."

TGC Secretary-General: Journalism is not espionage

TGC Secretary-General Sibel Güneş said, "Journalism is not espionage, terror activity. The government targets our colleagues to prevent the publication of the news, it causes them to be attacked. Assaults go unpunished. 750 journalists have entered and come out of the prison so far, 75 journalists are in prison right now. We think that the three colleagues of ours who are being tried today have been unfairly held in prison for six months and they are unfairly on trial. We demand that our colleagues be set free."

What does the indictment say?

The indictment brought against eight people demanded their penalization as per the Article 329/1 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) and the Article 27 of the National Intelligence Law (MİT) Law no. 2937.

The Article 329/1 of the TCK stipulates that "[a]ny person who discloses information that, due to its nature, must be kept confidential for reasons relating to the security, or domestic or foreign political interests of the State shall be sentenced to a penalty of imprisonment for five to ten years."

The Article 27 of the MİT law foresees that "those who obtain, procure, steal, fabricate, falsify and destroy documents and information about MİT's duties and operations shall receive four to ten years of imprisonment."

The Article 27 also stipulates that "those who disclose the identities, positions, duties and activities of MİT members and their families in any way and the ones who fabricate or falsify the identities of MİT members or use the fabricated documents shall be sentenced to three to seven years."

According to the Article 27 of the MİT law, if the crime of disclosure has been committed through publication of any kind, the related persons shall receive three to nine years of imprisonment.

What happened?

Odatv news website News Director Barış Terkoğlu and reporter Hülya Kılınç were detained from their homes in İstanbul and Manisa in early morning hours on March 4. Kılınç was taken to İstanbul for the investigation.

Terkoğlu and Kılınç were arrested by the İstanbul 4th Penal Judgeship of Peace in the evening on the same day.

On March 5, the Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK) imposed an access block on Odatv.

Summoned to depose as part of the same investigation on March 5, Odatv Editor-in-Chief Barış Pehlivan was also arrested on March 6.

On the same day, daily Yeni Yaşam Editor-in-Chief Ferhat Çelik and Managing Editor Aydın Keser were referred to court for arrest as part of the same investigation. They were released on probation by the court.

Next day, on March 7, daily Yeniçağ columnist Murat Ağırel was also referred to court for his arrest after deposing at the prosecutor's office. He was released on probation by the court.

Upon the objection of the prosecutor's office, Ferhat Çelik, Aydın Keser and Murat Ağırel were arrested on March 8.

On April 24, an indictment was issued against arrested journalists Barış Terkoğlu, Hülya Kılınç, Ferhat Çelik, Aydın Keser and Murat Ağırel as well as journalist Erk Acarer, who is abroad, and E.E., a Press Unit member from the Republican People's Party (CHP) Akhisar Municipality.

In the first hearing of the case four months later on June 24, Odatv Editor-in-Chief Barış Pehlivan, Odatv News Director Barış Terkoğlu, reporter Hülya Kılınç, Yeni Yaşam Editor-in-Chief Ferhat Çelik, Yeni Yaşam Managing Editor Aydın Keser, daily Yeniçağ columnist Murat Ağırel stood trial.

The İstanbul 34th Heavy Penal Court has ruled that Barış Terkoğlu, Ferhat Çelik and Aydın Keser shall be released while Barış Pehlivan, Hülya Kılınç and Murat Ağırel shall remain behind bars.

(HA/VK)

THE INTELLIGENCE OFFICER CASE