ANKARA - The first hearing of the case brought against 12 journalists, 10 of whom were imprisoned, including Diren Yurtsever, the Editor-in-Chief of MA in Ankara, will be held at the Ankara 4th High Criminal Court tomorrow.

 

The first hearing of the lawsuit filed against journalist of Diren Yurtsever, Editor-in-Chief of the Mesopotamia Agency (MA), its correspondents Berivan Altan, Ceylan Şahinli, Deniz Nazlım, Emrullah Acar, Hakan Yalçın, Selman Güzelyüz, JINNEWS reporters Habibe Eren and Öznur Değer who were arrested on October 29, 2022 as part of the investigation carried out by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, and Hamdullah Bayram and MA reporter Zemo Ağgöz, who was on trial pending trial, and Mehmet Günhan, who worked as an intern at the MA Ankara office for a while, will be held tomorrow.

 

Representatives of press organizations and journalists will watch the hearing at the Ankara 4th High Criminal Court.

 

149 NEWS STORIES IN THE INDICTMENT

 

The Mezopotamya Agency, which has legal personality, was also included as a defendant in the indictment, which was prepared on February 17, 3 and a half months after the journalists were detained. A large part of the indictment consisted of 149 news items published in MA. In addition to the news, the indictment, which included the founding date of the PKK-KCK 3 times, included the statements of public and secret witnesses who did not make any statements about journalists.

 

REQUEST FOR RELEASE WAS REJECTED

 

The Ankara 4th High Criminal Court, which accepted the indictment that lacked any evidence and that the journalists were alleged to be "being members of a terrorist organization", rejected the application of the journalists' lawyer, Resul Temur, seeking release on the same day.