ANKARA - Pointing out that he works at MA because he report the truth, Imprisoned journalist Emrullah Acar said. "I report the news with my conscience. We do not take instructions from anyone and we report our news with our will."

 

The first hearing of the case in which 12 journalists, 10 of whom are imprisoned, are tried for "being a member of a terrorist organization" continues at the Ankara 4th High Criminal Court. After the break, Resul Temur, the lawyer of the journalists, took the floor. Noting that the journalists have been detained for 7 months, Temur stated that the president of the court intervened in the defense. Temur objected to the presiding judge's statement that the hearing would end at 17.30.

 

Temur requested that the defenses take a long time and that the hearing should continue until the defenses are over. The court rejected Temur's request. The president of the court said: "The defense of 10-12 people will be finished by this time." Temur demanded that journalist Zemo Ağgöz has a baby and that he be excluded from this hearing. The court accepted Temur's request.

 

WHY MA?

 

Imprisoned journalist Emrullah Acar made a defense in Kurdish. Stating that he report news in Kurdish for the Mezopotamya Agency (MA), Acar mentioned the pressure against Free Press employees: “Because MA writes facts, defends them. It does not distort the truth. Our address is clear where we work. We are journalists; however, the police look at us in a different way. We have been subjected to the imposition of spying many times; however, we have denied this dishonor. We see that they want to take revenge on us. There is not a single concrete fact about the allegations in it, they are all abstract. It is claimed that we comply with the 'KCK Convention'. I came across the KCK Agreement for the first time in this indictment."

 

'WE ARE JUDGED FOR BEING CONSCIENT'

 

Stating that he added his “conscience” to his news, Acar said: “We are on trial because we are conscientious. They claim that we take orders from someone because we rely on our conscience. We do not take orders from anyone and we make our news voluntarily. Civilization was born in these lands. This is lost on this land right now. MA is tracking this with its news. MA defends women, the truth of society. We are the truth."

 

Pointing out that there is also an accusation in the indictment that he sent a letter to the prison, Acar said: "This letter is not in the file. Why is it missing? What is in it?" I was charged with the files and information I downloaded to my computer as a result of my research for the news. I was also accused of sharing the social media. These shares were his own news. The books confiscated during my detention. There was no decision to ban me when I bought these books. We are journalists and we read books with all kinds of content. This is not touted as a crime. Finally, we want to say that we are the voice of the truth."

 

THE PRESIDENT OF THE COURT QUESTIONS THE 'CONSCIENCE'

 

Pointing to the word "conscience", the court asked whether he had received an "education" in this context within the MA. Acar said: "The journalists I worked with explained the principles of journalism and that this was conscience. We do not act according to our interests. There is no need for education to be conscientious.”