The Kocaeli Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office launched and investigation in 2023 regarding photographs found on digital materials seized from two individuals in the Silopiya (Silopi) district of Şirnex (Şırnak). 

 

A facial comparison report dated 8 February 2024, issued by the Criminal Laboratory Directorate of the Istanbul Provincial Gendarmerie Command, claimed that the person seen in one of the photographs was Rojbin Nergiz, a mother of three.

 

Following this claim, Nergiz was detained on 20 February 2024 in the Bismîl district of Amed (Diyarbakır) as part of the investigation. She was taken to Kocaeli without her family being notified. Her family was not informed of her whereabouts for two days, while she remained in custody at the Kocaeli Police Department for four days.

 

On 23 February 2024, she was released under judicial control with an order of house arrest. Nergiz remained under house arrest for nine months. In August 2024, an indictment was prepared accusing her of “terrorist organization membership” The first hearing of the trial was held on 16 January 2025. In the second hearing, two different witnesses testified that the person Nergiz was alleged to resemble had died in Shengal during an airstrike. Despite this, the case against her continues. Ahead of the fourth hearing scheduled for 9 December, Rojbin Nergiz and her husband Umut Nergiz called for justice.

 

Describing the unlawful treatment she faced, Nergiz said the accusations against her were completely unfounded and urged authorities to reveal the truth. “They ruined my life because of a single photograph. That person is not me. The state must uncover the truth,” she said.

 

Nergiz stated: “They showed me a photograph and said, ‘This is you.’ But it isn’t. My school and hospital records prove that I was in Turkey on those dates.” She also stated that she suffered two panic attacks during detention, that her children were very young at the time, and she was not allowed to speak with them.

 

She added that she was forbidden from speaking Kurdish during her detention, and that it was during this time she learned she was pregnant. Since then, she has been taking medication due to psychological distress.

 

Her husband, Umut Nergiz, said they had submitted numerous documents proving her innocence, yet the court rejected their requests. He stressed that there is no resemblance between his wife and the person in the photograph. He added that they asked the court to conduct a live criminal comparison, and noted that there are also testimonies indicating the woman Rojbin was said to resemble had died in Shengal.

 

Umut Nergiz stated that he has been unable to work for two years because of the on-going case and that their family has suffered severe financial hardship. He called on the Ministry of Justice, members of parliament, and the public to support them ahead of the 9 December hearing so that the truth can be revealed.

 

MA / Helin Ozgun