VAN - Lawyers, who made a defense in the case of 4 journalists, who were arrested after reporting the throwing of two citizens off of military helicopters, criticized the prosecutor's indictment stating "there are no magazine and sports news", by saying "Maybe the prosecutor is expecting them to shoot a penguin documentary, but there are no penguins in Van."
Mesopotamia Agency (MA) reporters Adnan Bilen and Cemil Uğur, Jinnews reporter Şehriban Abi and journalist Nazan Sala, who were arrested, and MA reporter Zeynep Durgut who stand without arrest completed their defense statements during the first hearing of the case. The hearing at Van 5th Criminal Court continues with the defense statements of lawyers.
Ekin Yeter, one of the lawyers, demanded that two witnesses be heard at the hearing. The court president dismissed the request finding it "unnecessary" and the lawyer "too enthusiastic".
MURAT TIMUR: THERE ARE NO PENGUINS IN VAN
Later, the lawyer of journalist Adnan Bilen, Murat Timur, made his defense. Timur, who asked the chief judge, who interfered with his clients, not to be interrupted, stated that the prosecutor's office prepared an indictment from a personal point of view.
Stating that the indictment is "a political document", he continued by criticism of the sentence "Why are there not magazines or sports news?" mentioned in the indictment, "Based on the statement of the prosecutor I assume you expect a penguin documentary to be filmed. However, there are no penguins in Van. Is the prosecutor also expecting the journalist to make news of Van cat?" he asked.
Criticizing that his clients are not considered as journalists because they do not have yellow press cards, Timur reminded that the yellow press card is not mandatory for journalism. Timur said that "Yesterday, a decision was made to suspend the execution of the Plenary Session of Administrative Law Divisions because various provisions of the press card regulation were arbitrary. It is known in the public that this case is a case against journalism." Timur demanded the release and acquittal of the journalists.
REJECT TO CLAIM TECHNICAL MATERIALS
Following Timur, Lawyer Veysel Ok, Co-Director of the Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA), made his defense. Reacting to the confiscation of the computers and phones of the journalists following the hearing, Veysel Ok continued: "I was going to present the decision of the Constitutional Court, stating that "equipment of journalists cannot be searched and seized" but at the start of this hearing you seized the phones and computers of the journalists who were following this hearing and did not record this on your minutes. I will let you decide on this and then I will then go on with the defense. I want all the material to be returned so that the journalists can produce their news."
The prosecution demanded the rejection of the claim, stating that the technical materials of the journalists were not confiscated and that there was a "measure" against capturing of sound and image. The court board rejected the demand, claiming that there was no seizure order.
THE NEWS OF TORTURE IS BEING PROSECUTED
Continuing with his defense, Veysel Ok said, "The essence of this case is hidden in the indictment. The main case, the main incident has not been included in the indictment. The torture act is reported. All of Turkey heard of this news. With this motivation, we see that the prosecutor conducted a search in the workplaces of journalists and looked for evidence. The indictment itself is evidence of the unlawfulness of the case. If there had not been torture news, Turkey would not be aware of that. We all know that this is the reason why these journalists have been detained for 6 months. The prosecutor states that the agency they work for has been denied access because they do not consistently do sports, magazines, and nature news. With which authority the prosecutor shows the journalist's failure to make news about sports and magazines as evidence for 'membership in an organization? What should a journalist do in Van? There are constant violation of rights in Van. The journalist are reporting these."
DID THEY REPORT THE PRICE OF THE BAG AS NEWS?
Ekin Yeter, the lawyer of arrested journalist Nazan Sala, stated that they faced some unlawfulness during the detention phase. Noting that there was no evidence in the indictment other than her journalistic activities, Ekin Yeter pointed out that the charges against her client Nazan Sala were also directed against Zeynep Durgut, who stood before trial without arrest. Yeter asked, "Why should the reporting of a violation of rights in prison be hostile to the state?". Ekin Yeter continued, "It is true that reporting on those who tortured citizens disturbs the government. But it is the control duty of the press. When the situation of the country is obvious, journalists should the journalists have reported on for how much Demet Akalın bought her bag while facing new rights violations every day in Van?"
Stating that her client Sala had been a journalist for 15 years and worked in Van Metropolitan Municipality when she was arrested, Yeter said "They inclıded these journalists to this case to distract from the main case of torture."
The hearing continued with the defense of detained journalist Nazan Sala's other lawyer, Veysi Altay. He said that "According to the reports of international organizations of journalists jailed around the world. Turkey ranks number 3. If we add those who have not been arrested, who have been subjected to judicial control or who have been subjected to judicial harassment, the numbers will increase even more."
The court board adjourned for 10 minutes. The hearing will continue with the defense of the lawyers after the break.