VAN - Journalists in Van, who were threatened with death by pulling a gun, stated that the obstruction and threat continued throughout the day. Journalists said that they will continue to do their job despite all the obstacles.

 

Journalists who followed the marching crowd after the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) rally on September 1, World Peace Day in Van, were beaten by the police and threatened with death by pulling a gun. The police put Mesut Bağcı, one of the journalists who followed the crowd, to the ground, battered him and broke his camera. A plain-clothes policeman who introduced himself as a member of the TEM Branch, on the other hand, threatened Mezopotamya Agency (MA) reporter Berivan Kutlu and JINNEWS reporter Zelal Tunç, said that he will shoot the journalists and no one will find them. The same police also pulled a gun and threatened JINNEWS reporter Elfazi Toral with death. The police, who prevented the journalists from taking pictures during the intervention in the march, tried to damage their cameras.

 

Tunç and Kutlu, who were threatened with death, talked about the measure of the violence.

 

DEATH THREAT

 

Stating that they followed the people who took the march after the rally, Tunç said: “While we were following the march, the police came to me and threatened me that he will kill us, no one will find us. When my journalist friend Elfazi Toral and the mass condemned the beating and threats of the police, the police put his hand on his gun and pointed it at us”.

 

'POLICE ATTACKS INCREASED'

 

Noting that the threat of the police is not an ordinary event, and that they are faced with police obstruction and attack in every press statement they go, Tunç said: “These attacks are not attacks that started today. Newspaper buildings of the free press were bombed before, journalists were murdered and dozens of our friends are in prison today. When we look at the indictment of our journalist friends held in prison, the only accusation against them is to report the news stories. Actually, there is no crime because their only job is to continue their journalistic activities. We will reveal every truth that the state does not want to see. We will continue to report news stories, no matter what happens, even if we know that we will die.” ”

 

VIOLENCE INCREASES EVERY DAY

 

Emphasizing that violence against the press is increasing day by day, but they will continue to write the truth, Kutlu said: “Many of our friends are currently being held in prisons for their journalistic activities because we reflect every violation of the state's rights with all its reality. This is the main reason for so many attacks. We also come and report the violence against us; therefore, we will continue to do our job against all attacks.”

 

MA / Cengiz Ozbasar