Five journalists face prison sentences for protesting colleagues' arrests
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Six journalists have been charged with "participating in an unlawful demonstration" after they protested the detention of their colleagues in İstanbul's Kadıköy district on April 29.
During the demonstration, the journalists aimed to voice their support for their fellow journalists who had been detained in two separate investigations targeting Kurdish-focused media outlets. However, before the protest could even begin, the journalists were taken into custody.
The İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office accused Pınar Gayıp, an editor at ETHA news agency, along with Eylem Nazlıer, a reporter for Evrensel, Esra Soybir, a reporter for Direnişteyiz.org news site, Serpil Ünal, a reporter for Mücadele Birliği, Yadigar Aygün, a reporter for Gazete Patika, and freelance journalist Zeynep Kuray of taking part in an illegal demonstration.
According to the indictment, the Kadıköy District Police Department detected information about a protest to be held outside the Süreyya Opera House through social media monitoring. Following this, the Kadıköy Sub-governor's Office issued a ban on the demonstration.
The prosecutor stated that the police officers had informed the journalists about the ban on the protest, but despite warnings to disperse, the journalists continued with the protest, chanting slogans such as "Free press cannot be silenced, journalism is not a crime, we will not remain silent."
The prosecutor deemed the demonstration to be unlawful while noting that the journalists were detained using force.
The journalists were charged with "participating in unarmed gatherings and marches that are unlawful, and not dispersing despite warnings." The prosecutor sought a prison sentence ranging from 6 months to 3 years, according to Article 32/1 of the Law on Meetings and Demonstrations.
Notably, there was an error in the indictment regarding the date of the demonstration. The "date of the offense" was mistakenly indicated as July 7, 2023, while the actual date of the protest was April 29.
The İstanbul Anatolian 22nd Criminal Court accepted the indictment and set the first hearing for January 10, 2023, which coincides with Working Journalists Day.
"The police should have been prosecuted"
Commenting on the case, Eylem Nazlıer stated that the indictment lacked evidence.
"On that day, the images of the violence we endured are evident. We went to negotiate with the police around 6.30 p.m., and they informed us that there was no ban issued by the governor's office or the sub-governor's office. Our planned demonstration was set to begin at 7.00 p.m. At the last minute, they declared the protest to be unlawful. If the prosecutor had examined the footage, they would have seen this.
"While we were discussing amongst ourselves, the police suddenly surrounded us with riot shields. The demonstration hadn't even started, and we hadn't decided what to do yet. They made an announcement, 'Your protest is unlawful, disperse,' because they wanted the announcement to be recorded. However, while this announcement was being made, we were surrounded by police shields and subjected to physical violence before being arrested."
Nazlıer emphasized that they faced police violence while exercising their constitutional rights. "Imagine that journalists protesting the arrest of their colleagues were also detained. Not only that, they put us in wrist restraints. Furthermore, we were physically abused inside the bus. We stated this in our testimonies. Instead of investigating these incidents, they filed a lawsuit against us," she said.
"We were tortured"
Another journalist, Serpil Ünal, echoed similar sentiments, mentioning how they were encircled by riot police without any prior notice of a ban.
"Journalists are being subjected to violence even while covering news stories. They are pushed and beaten by the police using shields to keep them away from the scene. Our colleagues are constantly threatened, detained, tortured, and arrested because of the stories they cover.
"Detention periods are extended, and secrecy orders are imposed on the files of arrested journalists. Due to delayed preparation of indictments for detained journalists, their unjust imprisonments are prolonged for months.
"When we try to raise these issues through a simple statement, we are subjected to torture and detained even before making the statement. This clearly reveals the extent of the pressure, attacks, and violence faced by journalists who document the truth and strive to deliver accurate information to the public."
CLICK - BİA Media Monitoring Database
CLICK - BİA Media Monitoring Reports
CLICK - BİA Media Monitoring 2023 2nd Quarterly Report
(HA/VK)