Detained journalists: Fabrication of evidence might be taking place

Click to read the article in Turkish

20 journalists who were detained during the raids on their homes and offices in the southeastern province Diyarbakır on June 8 are still kept in custody.

They sent a message regarding the long-lasting detention process and drew attention to the possibility of the fabrication of evidence in their files.

"Detention turned into torture and punishment"

In a message, they sent through Serdar Altan, the co-chair of the Dicle Fırat Journalists Association (DFG) who is among the detainees, the journalists stated the following:

"Even if it takes 80 days, not 8 days, you will not be able to find anything other than our journalism activities, so we call to the prosecutor; We want to see what evidence you have. Do not prolong this process any longer. Otherwise, you will be implicated."

"We are journalists and we have not committed any crime but did journalism. Therefore, we demand our immediate release. We would also want  to thank all our colleagues, media organizations, and non-governmental organizations who have not left us alone and supported us for several days."

Solidarity message signed by 837 journalists

Meanwhile, a statement condemning the arrest of the journalists and calling for their immediate release has been signed by 837 journalists, and representatives of 62 media outlets and journalists' organizations in Turkey yesterday, June 13.

The statement, released in Turkish, Kurdish, Armenian, and English, read:

"We call upon everyone, and specifically the opposition who have been promising a system of law, justice, equality, freedom, and democracy in transition to the Turkey of the future, to stand in solidarity with our detained colleagues and stand up against the violence of the political administration."

"We call upon members of the judiciary not to act as instruments of the lawlessness and tyranny of the administration, to take decisions within the context of universal legal parameters regarding the freedom of the press and expression, and to immediately release the journalists in custody."

"We call upon international press organizations, journalists, human rights organizations, and human rights defenders to stand in solidarity with us for the betterment of press freedom in Turkey, and urge them to take action in the face of pressures imposed on journalists."

"We are witnesses for our colleagues. Although such policies of repression and intimidation are well known by the ranks of the tradition of the free press, who have always been engaged in a struggle for the right of the public to information, we will never allow ourselves to become acclimatized to such operations and policies."

CLICK- Support for detained journalists from Germany and Switzerland

(HA/TB)