DİYARBAKIR - Releaseing after four days, she was detained on the grounds of sending money to her colleagues in prison, Journalist Dicle Müftüoğlu said: "The detention of journalists today is an effort to obscure the truth."

 

Dicle Müftüoğlu, co-chair of the Dicle Fırat Journalists Association (DFG) and editor of the Mesopotamia Agency (MA), was detained at the Diyarbakır Provincial Security Directorate, where she went to give her statement on June 3. Müftüoğlu, who was accused of "funding a terrorist the organisation" for sending money to her colleagues in Van Prison as part of an investigation opened by the Van Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, was released on the condition of "judicial review measure" after four days of detention.

 

Making evaluations about the detention process, Müftüoğlu said: "9 of those detained from different cities with her were arrested. Even the unjustified four-day detention is itself a state of torture and unlawfulness."

 

PSYCHOLOGICAL PRESSURE

 

Stating that some kind of psychological pressure was applied to her in the four days she was kept in custody, Müftüoğlu said: “It is a state of trying to discipline you in this way. I would like to underline that it is unlawful to deprive a journalist or any person of their freedom for four days.”

 

‘PREVENTING JOURNALISTS FROM CONTANTING TO EACH OTHER’

 

In her statement with SEGBİS, stating that she was only asked to send money to her journalist colleagues Nedim Türfent and Ziya Ataman, Müftüoğlu said: “It is a movement that prevents the journalist from contacting to each other. At the same time, we can say that this is the situation of putting a barrier in front of other prisoners like Nedim and Ziya. The state says that they are not content with arresting individuals, they oppress on other people who show any solidarity with the prisoners.”

 

'THERE IS NO LEGAL OBSTACLE FOR SENDING MONEY TO PRISONERS'

 

Stating that as a journalist, she sends letters and cards to show solidarity with her colleagues, and sometimes this can turn into funding support, Müftüoğlu said: “The state is trying to prevent this. The state is trying to criminalize the personers inside besides the state is trying to scare the people outside. There is no legal obstacle for sending money to someone in prison. With the money you send, a prisoner can only shop at the canteen. A situation that is sufficient to meet their small needs. There is no logical basis for the possibility of this money turning into an organisational finance."

 

'WE WILL TRY TO OVERCOME THE OBSTACLES'

 

Müftüoğlu said: “We are trying to create journalist and colleague solidarity. Such operations are intended to prevent the solidarity. Their efforts are to prevent this increasing solidarity among journalists in recent years. We will not accept this. We will continue our solidarity with more than 60 colleagues currently held in prison. We will continue to cooperate with journalists who are oppressed because of their solidarity with their colleagues or for doing their job outside. We will try to overcome the obstacles in front of the freedom of press and expression by expanding this solidarity.”

 

JOURNALISTS WERE TARGETED AGAIN

 

Referring to the operation against journalists in Diyarbakır today, Müftüoğlu said: “An operation was also carried out against the Kurdish press this morning. Journalists of the free press, who are working to transfer the truth to the public, were once again targeted. At least 16 of our colleagues were detained in a raid. This operation is actually an effort to obscure the truth. The phrase 'Free press will not be silent', which we have been saying for years, is not a slogan, it is our working motto. We will continue to work on this basis. We demand the immediate release of all our detained colleagues. We call on all journalists and professional organisations to be the voice for the freedom of press and expression and to raise their voices against this operation."

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