Forty-seven people detained in operations carried out on Feb 3 in 22 cities targeting the Socialist Party of the Oppressed (Ezilenlerin Sosyalist Partisi, ESP) and affiliated institutions were formally arrested yesterday. Those arrested include ESP Co-Chair Murat Çepni.
According to the Bureau of Law for the Oppressed (EHB), prosecutors referred 56 people to court today with a request for arrest and made their assessment based solely on case files, without taking statements. All 56 were sent to court with an arrest request.
The court ruled for the arrest of 47 suspects on allegations of “membership in a terrorist organization” and “terror propaganda.”
Speaking after the court order, Çepni said ESP members could be “taken hostage through fabricated case files,” but added that the party’s ideas and politics could not be subdued. He said the struggle for freedom, democracy, and socialism would continue and that ESP would remain at its center, adding, “There is no despair, no surrender.”
Thirty-nine people held at the İstanbul police headquarters as part of the same investigation were referred to the courthosue today.
‘There is not a single piece of evidence’
A group of journalists gathered outside the courthouse in Çağlayan to protest the arrests of ETHA editors Nadiye Gürbüz and Pınar Gayıp, and reporters Elif Bayburt, Müslüm Koyun, and Züleyha Müldür, all of whom were detained during the ESP operations.
Shortly after the protest, it was confirmed that Gayıp, Gürbüz, and Bayburt had been formally arrested.
The protest drew participation from numerous press organizations, including the DİSK Press Union, the Contemporary Journalists’ Association, the Dicle Fırat Journalists Association (DFG), the Mesopotamia Women Journalists Association, and Haber-Sen.
Reading a statement on behalf of the DFG, Saliha Aras emphasized the role of the press as a “public watchdog,” citing established case law from the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).
The protest included frequent chants such as "The free press cannot be silenced," "ETHA did not remain silent, will not remain silent," and "Atılım did not remain silent, will not remain silent."
'Journalists become the news'
The protest statement called for the immediate release of the detained journalists and criticized the judicial process.
“Arresting journalists for their professional work contradicts the principles of legal certainty, proportionality, and necessity in a democratic society. Such actions not only violate journalists’ freedom of expression and right to work but also infringe upon the public’s right to access accurate and reliable information,” the statement read.
“A country where journalists are not reporting the news but are themselves the subject of news reports represents the erosion of the people’s fundamental right to be informed.
"We declare our solidarity with our colleagues and strongly condemn these unlawful practices targeting press freedom. We call on the authorities to fulfill their national and international obligations, ensure the immediate release of the journalists, and put an end to interventions against the free press.
"We urge our journalist friends and all those who support the right to truthful reporting to stand in solidarity. Journalism is not a crime. A free press is the cornerstone of a democratic society and cannot be silenced.”
'That agency will never be shut down'
Following Aras, Peoples' Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party İstanbul co-chair Çınar Altan spoke at the protest.
“Perhaps ETHA reporters are being arrested today, but their comrades will take their place. We will win this struggle. We will not surrender this world to darkness,” he said.
ETHA reporter Yeşim Tükel added, “That agency whose door they broke down will never be shut. Atılım has not been silenced for 30 years, and it never will be. We will not give in to informants or raids. Our colleagues’ pens will never fall. We are the name of hope.” (TY/VK)
