DİYARBAKIR- Journalists on trial under arrest stated that they have been unlawfully detained for 13 months, drawing attention to the freedom of the press.

 

The hearing of the case brought against 18 journalists, 15 of whom were detained on June 16, who were detained on June 8, 2022 and arrested on June 16 as part of the Amed-based investigation, continues on its second day. In the hearing held at the Diyarbakır 4th High Criminal Court, imprisoned journalist Elif Üngür apologized for not being able to defend herself in the Kırmancki dialect of her mother tongue, Kurdish. Stating that she made a program and presented media ecology and culture programs in the media, Üngür said: "I did not accept the accusation of 'being a member of a terrorist organization', which was imputed to them in the file due to the principle of the personality of the crime. The news about the “' documentary and the guitar given to Nudem Durak', which she made on the program, did not constitute a crime. The news was for the benefit of the public."

 

Stating that the pressures on the Kurdish press will turn out to be a violation of freedom of expression, Üngür said: "Press freedom is under pressure in Turkey. Policies are being produced to continue this."

 

DOĞUHAN: BEING AT MY WORKPLACE IS CRIME

 

Stating that they were detained for a long period of 13 months, Journalist Suat Doğuhan said: "We had a long and tiring process. The condition of a fair trial is a speedy trial. But we saw the court after 13 months. Being at my own workplace was shown to be an 'terrorist organizational work'. It is no secret that I am a partner of Pia. It is an officially established, tax-paying workplace. The juxtaposition of institutions has been shown as an organizational activity. Everyone knows that the Turkish press, television, and radio are all side by side in Istanbul İkitelli. If an organizational close relationship is to be established, all of the press here must be members of the organization."

 

Stating that the phone tapes and the conversation he had with his uncle, who was in prison in Switzerland, were also shown as a crime, Doğuhan said: "The prosecutor thought that he would find a crime here. The indictment was prepared in such a frivolous manner."

 

'WHY CULTURE AND ART IS A CRIME IN KURDISH GEOGRAPHY'

 

Neşe Toprak, who made a defense in Kurdish, said that she was a painter and had an art program. Toprak said: “Therefore, I am trying to establish a connection with the organization. I am also a women's activist. I try to reflect this in my work and in the program I make. I make programs about women's production and life in Kurdish geography. My goal is to make women's efforts visible. Women are blocked in every field, and one of them is the media. That's why I started working in the press."

 

Indicating that she was on trial for this program with a cultural and artistic content, Toprak said: "I made presentations about women in many places. I did it in Kurdish geography as well. Why is it a crime to present culture and art in Kurdish geography?"

 

'INDICTMENT WAS PREPARED AFTER 10 MONTHS'

 

Journalist Lezgin Akdeniz, who defended in Kurdish, said: "While indictments should be prepared within 3 months under normal conditions, the indictment was prepared 10 months later. My eyes have been on the indictment for a month. 800 pages were prepared about 18 people in the indictment. I read each page one by one. I did not understand why we were detained for more than a year in the indictment."

 

'NEWS CANNOT BE CRIME'

 

In another tape, Akdeniz, stating that the meeting he made to make a news about Hamit Gezginci, was the subject of accusation, said: "The witness of the torture in Amed Dungeon No. 5 was murdered unsolved, that the government was proud of turning it into a museum, and that the prison witness is the subject of books, novels and news. It would not be a crime to make news about me."

 

'THE UNLAWFULNESS SHOULD BE ENDED'

 

Stating that an assessment was made that he sent his news to Sterk TV, Akdeniz said: "There is no such thing in the indictment. There was an organizational finding in the search of my house. My house was not searched. Why is there no such thing in the indictment? We are journalists. We have been carrying out these studies. We have been exposed to unlawful practices for a year. We want this unlawfulness to end in this hearing." .

 

After the one-hour break after the defenses were completed, the hearing continued.