Journalist Erdoğan Alayumat strip-searched in police custody
Journalist Erdoğan Alayumat was subjected to a strip search following his detention yesterday morning as part of a “terror” investigation. Alayumat is among 21 journalists and media workers targeted by detention orders in the operation.
Alayumat was taken into custody during a pre-dawn raid on his home and subsequently transported to the İstanbul Provincial Security Directorate. According to lawyers from the Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA), who later met with Alayumat, he reported being forced to undergo a strip search despite his objections. Alayumat reportedly told police that the procedure violated human rights, but his objection was ignored.
In a message conveyed through his lawyers, Alayumat said, “Journalism began a new day under attack. Yesterday, on Nov 25, we were subjected to police violence while trying to document disproportionate force in İstanbul. Today, we face detention under the judiciary's grip. We will continue to show that journalism is not a crime, no matter where we are. We will persist until those in power understand this.”
Yesterday’s operations were part of an investigation centered in Eskişehir, resulting in house raids and detentions in İstanbul, Batman, Diyarbakır, and Sakarya. Among those detained was Tuğçe Yılmaz, a reporter for bianet. While the charges against the journalists remain undisclosed to their lawyers due to a confidentiality order on the investigation, the state-run Anadolu Agency (AA) reported that it was “terrorism”-related, which has become a common practice in recent years targeting journalists working for pro-Kurdish news outlets.
bianet reporter among detained journalists as police raid homes across three cities
(VK)
