ISTANBUL - Announcing the "3 Monthly Report on Rights Violations Against Women Journalists", MKGP called for the immediate release of imprisoned journalists.
The Mesopotamia Women Journalists Platform (MKGP) announced its "Quarterly Report on Rights Violations Against Women Journalists" at a press conference held at the Human Rights Association (İHD) Istanbul Branch. Members of the İHD Istanbul Branch also took part in the meeting, which was attended by many journalists. At the meeting, photos of 10 Free Kurdish Press workers who were arrested in the last 6 months, the banner carried with “Free press will not bow down”, “Free press cannot be silenced”, “We are on the trail of the truth”, “Release the journalists”, “They did not bow down, we did not bow down, we will not bow down”, “ We are the unbending pen of Gurbetelli”.
The Turkish version of the report was read by MKGP members Nezahat Doğan and Hayam Bulut, while the Kurdish version was read by Durket Süren.
METHODS OF TORTURE
Reading the report in Turkish, Nezahat Doğan said: "Journalists carry out their duties in every field so that the society can get news and the truth is visible, by continuing the tradition of free press against oppression, violence, closure, detention and arrests since 2015. The AKP-MHP government continues to suppress violence and the freedom of reporting by targeting the press, especially the free Kurdish press. While opposition agencies and newspapers were shut down before, media institutions have been raided in recent months, and all their equipment has been confiscated and their employees have been arrested. Women journalists were subjected to torture and violence while in custody. They were dragged on the ground, handcuffed behind their backs and exposed to the sexist torture methods of the police.”
Stating that the indictment of 16 journalists, including 4 women, who were arrested in Diyarbakır on June 16, has not yet been prepared and that the journalists are imprisoned in prison, Nezahat said: "The reasons for their arrest are the news they follow and the news being considered a crime. As part of the Ankara-based investigation, on October 29, 9 journalists, 5 of whom were women, who were employees of the free Kurdish press, were arrested. Of the 26 journalists arrested in the last six months, 10 are women. This figure also display us that women journalists who struggle against the language of the government and its media are on target."
'WE WON'T BEAT'
As of the end of October, the number of imprisoned female journalists reached 17. We are calling out to those who try to intimidate the women journalists, whom they could not get away from the field with the torture method. Women journalists have not and will not bow down to you until today. As the Mesopotamia Women Journalists Platform, we want a platform that will enable all journalists to practice their journalism profession freely in every field, and we want the arrested journalists to be released immediately. Making news is not a crime, free press and women's journalism cannot be silenced.”
17 IMPRISONED JOURNALISTS
The names of 17 imprisoned female journalists as of October are as follows: Berivan Altan - Mesopotamia Agency Correspondent, Ceylan Şahinli - Mesopotamia Agency Correspondent, Derya Ren - JINNEWS Correspondent, Dilan Oynaş - Azadiya Welat Newspaper Employee, Diren Yurtsever - Mesopotamia Agency Editor-in-Chief, Elif Ersoy – Yürüyüş Magazine Editor-in-Chief, Elif Üngür - Program presenter, Habibe Eren - JINNEWS Correspondent, Hatice Duman – Atılım Newspaper Owner and Editor-in-Chief, Neşe Toprak - Program presenter, Özden Kınık – TRT employee, Özlem Seyhan – Journalist, Öznur Değer - JINNEWS correspondent, Remziye Temel - Accountant, Safiye Alagaş - JINNEWS Manager, Sibel Mustafaoglu - Azadiya Welat Newspaper Employee, Tülay Canpolat - Sabah Newspaper Ankara Correspondent.