ANKARA - Journalists, who were arrested and held in cells in Sincan No. 1 High Security Prison, stated that the truth will prevail and called for the honor of the journalism profession to be protected.

 

Diren Yurtsever, Editor-in-Chief of the Mezopotamya Agency (MA), MA reporters Berivan Altan, Deniz Nazlım, Selman Güzelyüz, Hakan Yalçın, Ceylan Şahinli, Emrullah Acar and JINNEWS reporters Habibe Eren and Öznur Değer, who was detained on October 25 under police torture as part of an investigation carried out in Ankara, were arrested on the allegation of “ being a member in a terrorist organisation” on October 29 by the court. Journalists Deniz Nazlım, Selman Güzelyüz and Emrullah Acar, held in solitary cells in Sincan No. 1 High Security Prison, sent a message through their lawyers.

 

The messages of Nazlım, Güzelyüz and Acar are as follows;

 

THE TRUTH WILL PREVAIL

 

Emrullah Acar: After 4 days of unlawful detention, 9 of my friends and I were unlawfully arrested. It was written in the press that there was no evidence that would constitute any "crime" in the content of the investigation. There was a reason why we should be arrested. It is that 9 journalists were doing their job. Actually, we shouldn't be surprised if we weren't released, we were waiting to be arrested; however, we will continue to write the truth in prison. I have not been arrested before, but I have written many news stories about rights violations in prisons. After that, I had an opportunity to see such conditions more closely and write more closely. We have just set foot in the prison, and in the coming days, we will share the rights violations we have been exposed to through the Free Press. The Free Press has not been silenced, it will not be silenced, the truth will prevail.

 

Emrullah Acar

 

LONG LIVE THE FREE PRESS

 

Selman Güzelyüz: We are close witnesses of the fact that the governments in Turkey resort to mise-en-scène in the face of the resistance of the Free Press. As they try to isolate us from our profession, we, the Free Press, do not obscure the facts. The place doesn't matter to us. Every place we are is a space for us to write the truth. We will continue to write the truth, inside and out. Long live the Free Press.

 

Selman Güzelyüz

 

WE WILL CONTINUE TO DEFEND THE TRUTH

 

Deniz Nazlım: Being a journalist in today's Turkey is a profession that requires effort. It is the easiest thing to enter prisons in the times we are going through. Unfortunately, in this country, being a writer, intellectual, human rights defender or journalist is added to the condition of being in prison. We were accused of being a soldier of the Free Press. We are honored to be a soldier and maintainer of the Free Press tradition. We are journalists, the only job we do is journalism. Even if they arrest us, this fact will not change, we will continue doing our job and defend the honor of our profession. We were arrested, along with 9 of our friends, for our pursuit of the truth; however, we are inside, our friends outside and we will continue to maintain the tradition of the Free Press and defend the truth.

 

Deniz Nazlım