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Civil society and professional organizations have made a statement for the press regarding Berivan Bila, a student of journalism who was arrested for having "insulted the President" with her article entitled "Department of Journalism 1st Lesson: Journalism is not a Crime."
Attending the statement for the press held for her daughter, Songül Bila has stated that Berivan Bila was unlawfully arrested and emphasized that "she has always run after the truth."
Her article was read out
As reported by Fatih Saygın from Sendika.Org news website, Engin Nur, Spokesperson of the Confederation of Public Laborers' Union (KESK) and Chair of Education and Science Workers' Union (Eğitim-Sen) stated,
"Berivan expressed her opinions in the article that she penned. The verdict of arrest has surprised us all. With the arrest of a student of journalism for having expressed her opinions, we are going through a situation contrary to the legal norms. We do not accept that a young journalist was arrested due to her opinions and articles."
Trabzon Community Houses' Chair Gizem Pehlivan also said,
"In this period, when the media in Turkey has been monopolized and serving to the government of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), Berivan has taken a stance and struggled against all types of bans, censorships, pressure and arrests faced by journalists. She was arrested because she fearlessly wrote about the truths and facts, expressed her opinions freely and said 'Journalism is not a crime'."
In the statement for the press, the article of Berivan, which was cited as the reason for her arrest, was also read out.
What happened?
Berivan Bila, a senior student at the Faculty of Journalism in Karadeniz Technical University and a member of the Trabzon Community Houses, has been arrested on charge of "insulting the President" due to her article entitled "Department of Journalism 1st Lesson: Journalism is not a Crime" that was published on kolektifler.net website on July 28, 2017.
Bila was sent to the Trabzon Type E Closed Prison after being arrested. (AS/SD)
