Prosecutor demands prison sentence for journalists covering torture

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Covering the incident where Osman Şiban and Servet Turgut had been thrown from the helicopter in Turkey's Kurdish-majority eastern province of Van after being detained by soldiers, Mezopotamya Agency (MA) reporters Adnan Bilen and Cemil Uğur, Jinnews reporter Şehriban Abi, journalist Nazan Sala and Zeynep Durgut have been indicted.

While Zeynep Durgut is not arrested, journalists Bilen, Uğur, Abi and Sala have been arrested since October 2020.

CLICK - Journalists covering torture behind bars for 101 days

Arrested for 130 days, the journalists have been charged with "membership in a terrorist organization" by the prosecutor, who has also charged Nazan Sala with "propagandizing for a terrorist organization."

Making a definition of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) in 6 pages of the 14-page indictment, the prosecutor has made statements about the organizations' activities.

The indictment has argued that the outlets where the journalists were working were "publishing and broadcasting provocative content with the aim of provoking the public, creating an impression and public opinion against the state, disturbing the state's unity and the country's integrity and degrading the senior state officials and institutions."

Noting that access blocks were imposed on the news websites where the journalists were working, the prosecutor has also accused them of failing to cover sports events, magazine news and natural phenomena.

In referring to this issue, the indictment has said, "...it has been detected that news against the state and its institutions were reported by using and agitating any particular issue on the country's agenda as a propaganda tool in favor of the armed terrorist organization with exaggeration and that normal sports, magazine, natural events, etc. were not covered as it did not fall within the perspective of the press committee..."

While the indictment has contained a list of the phones, computers and journalism materials seized during the house raids, it has noted that no crime element has been detected in the seized time planner of Adnan Bilen.

But, according to the indictment, some images containing the picture of Abdullah Öcalan, the jailed leader of the PKK, in the seized materials of Bilen have been considered a "crime element."

The meetings held by Bilen with his news sources have also been cited in the indictment lodged by the prosecutor.

Sala faces charges over social media posts

Referring to Nazan Sala, the indictment has noted that no crime element has been detected in her seized digital materials. However, her social media posts have been brought against her as criminal evidence.

Her social media posts about the deceased bodies kept waiting on the border, the conflicts with ISIS in northern Syria and criticisms of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in the years of 2015 and 2016 have been considered criminal evidence by the prosecutor.

Sala is now also facing charges over the press card given to her by the news agency where she was working, a magazine named Jineology and her notes about the Turkish Armed Forces' "Operation Claw-Eagle".

It is 'crime' to report on March 8

Zeynep Durgut has also faced charges on the grounds that she attended a live program on Sterk TV on March 8 and talked about the celebrations and events in Turkey "in a provocative language."

Against the background of the above evidence, the prosecutor has demanded that five journalists be penalized on charge of "being members of a terrorist organization." He has also demanded that Nazan Sala be also penalized on charge of "propagandizing for a terrorist organization."

The indictment has also noted that former newspaper distributors Ramazan Çınar, Ferdi Sertkal, Mikail Tunçdemir, Fehim Çetiner and Şükran Erdem, who were previously taken into custody as part of the same investigation, have been given a ruling of "non-prosecution."

The indictment brought against the journalists has been accepted by the Van 5th Heavy Penal Court.

What happened?

Mezopotamya Agency (MA) reporters Adnan Bilen and Cemil Uğur, Jinnews reporter Şehriban Abi and journalist Nazan Sala have been arrested since October 2020 on the grounds that they reported it with documents that two citizens, Servet Turgut and Osman Şiban, detained by soldiers in Çatak district in Van province, were thrown from a helicopter.

Detained in a raid on October 6, 2020 and arrested shortly afterwards, journalists have been charged with "membership in a terrorist organization" because "they reported on social incidents against the state."

According to the minutes of the court that ruled for their arrest, the reason why the journalists were considered to "have reported on social incidents against the state" was that they covered the incident where the villagers had been thrown from the helicopter.

In the ruling of arrest given for the journalists it was said, "... they engaged in agitation and propaganda; their press cards are not officially valid and, therefore, they are not press members; they reported news of burglary about the possessions protected inside the building and criticizing, degrading and aiming to smear the Republic of Turkey's methods and activities of counterterrorism; they reported news on social incidents against the state..."

Being treated in the intensive care unit for days, Servet Turgut lost his life after the incident. The Van Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, conducting the investigation into the incident, imposed a confidentiality order on the file as well as a publication and broadcast ban on the issue on October 1. (HA/SD)