AMED -MA's imprisoned editor, Sedat Yılmaz, responded to the allegations in the indictment one by one and said: "I am being tried today because I am a Kurdish journalist, because I work in the Kurdish press, and I have been detained for 8 months without evidence."

 

The first trial of the trial in which Mezopotamya Agency (MA) editor Sedat Yılmaz, who was detained in Amed on April 29 within the scope of an Ankara-based investigation and arrested on May 3, World Press Freedom Day, is being tried on charges of "being a member of a terrorist organization" and "establishing and leading an organization" trial has started. Many journalists from Dicle Fırat Journalists Association (DFG), DİSK Basın-İş, Turkish Journalists Union (TGS), Media and Legal Research Association (MLSA), as well as their family and colleagues attended the hearing at Diyarbakır 4th High Criminal Court. attended. The representatives of non-governmental organizations and political parties in the city also attended the hearing. Yılmaz, who is a prisoner in Sincan No. 2 Type F High Security Prison, was present in the courtroom.

 

The hearing started with a delay due to the broken Audio and Video Information System (SEGBİS) where witnesses would be heard. After identification, Yılmaz started his defense. In his defense, Yılmaz drew attention that he was being tried because he was a Kurdish journalist and answered the allegations in the indictment one by one.

 

REMINDING OF THE AMERICAN DECLARATION

 

Yilmaz recalled the following statements in the American Declaration of Independence published in 1776: "All people are born free and live freely; the state exists only to protect these freedoms and to ensure that everyone benefits from them equally. The state that interferes with these freedoms loses its reason for existence. The value in question is the compass of democratic governments. Thanks to this declaration, democratic states legally guarantee citizens' freedom of travel, communication, accommodation, education, health, housing, thought, dissemination of ideas, and freedom of press and expression."

  

YILMAZ CONDEMNED THE INDICTMENT: SHAMEFUL

 

Stating that he wishes the prosecutor who prepared the indictment had applied a bit of a legal filter, Yılmaz said: "Only what happens to people can go away. The journalism is a risky profession in countries like Turkey. I say that the statements of a secret witness are not filtered at all. This is a shame for the democracy of this country. I know, it is not a file prepared by the prosecutor present in the courtroom, but when read carefully, it is a file that contradicts itself and defeats itself. I'm talking about the indictment; therefore, what does the secret witness 'Ulaş' say, what does the evidence collected by the prosecution say, I will answer them one by one in a comparative manner."

 

3 LINES THAT EXISTED THROUGHOUT THE HISTORY OF THE REPUBLIC

 

Listing the censorship and pressures on journalists during the Republican period, Yılmaz said: "The government, based on the Takrir-i Sukun Law, is closing down 6 newspapers at once. The law itself is directly linked to the Kurdish issue in terms of its scope and consequences. Since then, freedom of the press and expression has been incurable. During the Republican period, there were two lines in the Turkish press. One of these lines is 'those who enjoy', the other is 'those who suffer'. The school of those who enjoy pleasure is shaped by the persons of Necip Fazıl Kısakürek and Peyami Safa, and its current extension controls 95 percent of the press. The 'those who suffered' are embodied in the persons of Sabahattin Ali and Aziz Nesin, and their share was imprisonment, exile, censorship, oppression, and even unsolved murders. This line bifurcates in the 90s, and a third line is expressed in the person of Musa Anter. The Kurdish press was born as the Kurdish press. State-based violence is now directing its direction towards this third line. Since the 90s, the Kurds have published an average of 60 newspapers, newspaper buildings were bombed, more than 50 reporters and distributors were killed, hundreds of years of imprisonment and exile. These second and third lines persist among the 5 percent who are out of power today. I am an opposition journalist who is among this 5 percent. I am tired today because I am Kurdish, because I am a Kurdish journalist, because I work in the Kurdish press. I have been detained for 8 months, without evidence. Despite everything, I want to maintain my belief that your delegation will protect the freedom of the press and expression."

 

After the defenses, the court panel announced its interim decision and decided to release Yılmaz. The court decided to ban Yılmaz from abroad.

 

The hearing was postponed to February 29, 2024.