Police battered the journalist reporting on municipality’s corruption
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Hasan Tolga Balcılar, a local journalist in Osmaniye, started reporting on the irregularities at the Osmaniye Municipality on "Son Dakika Osmaniye" (Breaking News Osmaniye) Twitter account; his house was raided and he was himself battered by the police shortly afterwards.
Journalist Balcılar has argued that his house was raided upon the instruction of Osmaniye Provincial Mayor Kadir Kara. In the video footage shared by the journalist, it is seen that the police officer tripped Hasan Tolga Balılar up and pushed his head with his knee.
Basın mensubu olarak ; Osmaniye Belediyesindeki Usulsüzlükleri ve kirli bağlantıları ortaya çıkardığım için , Osmaniye Emmiyet Müdürü tarafından Aileme yaşatılanlar . pic.twitter.com/VrQNM1qNSY
— Osmaniye sondakika (@OSondakika) May 28, 2021
Speaking to reporters, Balcılar has said that after he covered the irregularities in the tenders held by Kadir Kara, the Osmaniye Mayor from the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), he was first offered money; when the journalist did not accept the money, he started receiving threats.
According to Balcılar, after Mayor Kara spoke to the Provincial Security Director, an operation was carried out against his house three times. Balcılar has further indicated that even though there was no detention warrant, the police tried to detain him, adding that there are pressures targeting local journalists in Osmaniye province in Turkey's Mediterranean region.
Speaking to Fırat Fıstık from Medyascope news website, journalist Balcılar has indicated that Osmaniye Provincial Security Director Ahmet Selçuk Okumuş and Osmaniye Mayor Kadir Kara are very close.
"And the Security Director apparently gave an instruction to not only the Counterterrorism Department, but to the narcotic and cyber crime departments as well, saying, 'Take him'. We have heard this. We don't fear anyone, but we are having problems when such things happen under the name of state duty," journalist Balcılar has explained further.
On his "Breaking News Osmaniye" Twitter account, Hasan Tolga Balcılar reported that some people who did not go to the Osmaniye Municipality were registered as workers at the municipality and were getting a salary without working there. According to Balcılar, one of these people was the former Chair of the [ultra-nationalist] Osmaniye Idealist Hearths.
Herşey bu haberle başladı ... #osmaniye pic.twitter.com/uhfh3M73ay
— Osmaniye sondakika (@OSondakika) May 28, 2021
Speaking to Medya Koridoru news website, Balcılar said, "I am being threatened due to the news that I report about the Osmaniye Municipality and its connections. I proved the irregular tenders as a journalist. When I reported them as news, these people first offered me money. When I did not accept it, I started receiving threats. Some time later, following Mayor Kadir Kara's meeting with the Provincial Security Director, operations have started to be launched by the security against me. My house was searched three times. They searched it, saying 'We received a tip-off about a terror suspect.' They mistreated my spouse, my daughter and me. They attempted to arrest me even though there was no arrest warrant. Osmaniye is in a very bad situation. We, as local journalists, are constantly being threatened. The local reporter of FOX News cannot report on the irregularities due to fear." (HA/SD)
