Imprisoned Kurdish journalists not allowed to use fridge amid scorching heat in Diyarbakır

One of the 16 Kurdish journalists who were remanded in custody in June in a "terrorism-related" investigation said they were not allowed to buy TVs, refrigerators to use in their cells.

The prison administration also did not deliver the books sent for them, Ömer Çelik told his family during a visit the Mezopotamya Agency (MA) reported.

The prison administration told them that the books could only be delivered in the first week of September and did not explain why they were not allowed to buy a refrigerator and a TV, said the journalist. Temperatures in the southeastern city of Diyarbakır are currently about 40 Celsius degrees, he noted.

Attorneys of the journalists said they will apply to the Diyarbakır High Security Closed Prison No. 2 administration regarding the issue.

What happened?

On June 8, the police raided several homes and offices of news outlets in the predominantly Kurdish populated province of Diyarbakır. Twenty-two people, including 20 journalists, were detained.

After eight days in detention, a judgeship ruled for the arrest of 16 journalists on "terrorist propaganda" charges, citing their news reports and social media posts as evidence.

During their interrogation, the questions they were asked included what they meant by "Kurdish question" and whether they had received instructions, an attorney of the journalists had told bianet.

The arrests triggered a backlash from journalists and international organizations.

CLICK - BİA Media Monitoring Reports

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