Journalists, press professional organizations, politicians, and civil society organizations gathered in front of T24's Ankara office in support of Tolga Şardan and T24.
Şardan was arrested for their article titled "What's in the 'judiciary report' presented to the Presidency by the MİT?"
Large crowd protests the arrest
The Press Council, Progressive Journalists Association, DİSK Basın-İş union, Association of Journalists, Haber-Sen union, İzmir Journalists Association, Photo Journalists Association of Turkey, and Turkey Journalists Union made a joint press statement and a large crowd gathered to protest the arrest.
Among the individuals present at T24's Ankara office were journalists Murat Yetkin, Fikret Bila, Yıldız Tar, Çiğdem Toker, Faruk Bildirici, as well as (Republican People's Party (CHP) Members of Parliament Sezgin Tanrıkulu, Utku Çakırözer, Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Members of Parliament Ayşegül Doğan, Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu, former Chief Public Prosecutor of the Court of Cassation Ömer Faruk Eminağaoğlu, and director Tufan Taştan.
Kenan Şener from the Association of Journalists, who read the joint statement of the press professional organizations, emphasized that the judiciary should focus on the proper functioning of the justice system rather than arresting journalists.
"Why have you waited for 43 hours to deny the article?"
Speaking to journalists after the statement read out by Şener, T24's Ankara Representative Gökçer Tahincioğlu questioned why the Presidency and the MİT (National Intelligence Organization) waited 43 hours to deny Şardan's article, saying, "There are many things we don't understand, and we want answers."
"We will continue to write"
Tahincioğlu added, "Even if there were some errors in Tolga Şardan's article - which there were not - is the response to arrest him? We want the Ministry of Justice and the High Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSK) to respond to this. We want to know if HSK will take any action against the judges and prosecutors who constantly view everything journalists write as a threat to their personal interests and take action."
Tahincioğlu stated, "It's not just Tolga Şardan; many of our colleagues are being arrested for different reasons. In Turkey's enforcement regime, if you violate people's rights, if you rob people, you don't get arrested, you don't end up in prison. Journalists, on the other hand, are pre-emptively punished. The sole reason for Tolga Şardan's arrest is that they do not want him to continue writing. We will keep writing, and Tolga Şardan will also continue to write." (HA/PE)
