Coalition for Women in Journalism calls for journalist Nurcan Yalçın’s release
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In a written statement, the Coalition for Women in Journalism (CFWIJ) has called for the immediate release of Nurcan Yalçın.
Journalist Yalçın was taken into custody in Turkey's Kurdish-majority southeastern province of Diyarbakır on February 4. After searching her flat, police officers reportedly took the journalist to the Anti-Terror Department of the Diyarbakır Provincial Secuirty Directorate.
The Coalition has said:
Such pressure tactics by law enforcement agencies are deplorable. We call for her immediate release. We call on the authorities to immediately release the journalist and disclose the basis of their actions. The charges against the journalist, if any, must be disclosed.
While Yalçın is reportedly still in detention, the CFWIJ has briefly stated the following about the detention of the journalist:
"The Coalition For Women In Journalism is extremely concerned over the actions of the counter terrorism officials and calls for Nurcan Yalçın's immediate release. The journalist was arrested from her home with no reason given. Her right to privacy, her freedom and her rights as a citizen and a journalist were all evidently disregarded by the authorities.
"We condemn the persistent legal harassment of the journalist and demand that the grounds for her arrest must be disclosed immediately. The rapidly declining space for independent press in Turkey is a matter of grave concern and treacherous for any democracy. In 2021, the CFWIJ documented at least 238 cases of violations against women journalists in the country."
What happened?
The Coalition has also shared the following background information about the recent detention of Nurcan Yalçın as well as the previous legal proceedings brought against the journalist in Turkey over the years:
"Counter terrorism officials reportedly raided the journalist's home early on the morning of February 4, 2022.
"According to Jin News, she was taken to the Diyarbakır Counter-Terrorism Branch's office and is being held there without cause. The journalist is to be permitted access to her lawyers by tomorrow, suggest reports.
"On November 22, 2021, Nurcan was handed a suspended sentence of three years, seven months and 22 days in prison. The Diyarbakır 9th High Criminal Court convicted the journalist for affiliation with the 'illegal' Rosa Women's Association, a Diyarbakır-based civil society women's organization, and on charges of spreading 'terror propaganda'. She was sentenced to two years and one month in prison for 'knowingly and willingly helping a terrorist organization without being a member' and for one year, six months and 22 days on the count of spreading terror propaganda.
"The court deemed a secret witness statement allegedly testifying that Nurcan was working in Rosa Women's Association, her membership certificate and social media posts as criminal elements during the trial. When convicting Nurcan for the aforementioned charges, the court deferred the prison sentence and imposed an international travel ban on the journalist.
"Separately, Nurcan faced legal action in 2021 for her coverage of August 2019 anti-trustee protests in Mardin. The freelance reporter was charged on counts of participation in a banned gathering and defiance of police orders to disband, along with fellow journalists, Rojda Aydın and Halime Parlak, for following the protests. The trial is yet ongoing." (EMK/SD)
