DİYARBAKIR - Families of imprisoned journalists called for solidarity on the occasion of January 10 Working Journalists' Day and demanded an end to the pressure on press freedom.

 

January 10 Working Journalists' Day in Turkey is replaced by repression, censorship, detention and arrests instead of celebrations. According to the data of national and international press organizations, 87 journalists are in prison and the number of those prosecuted for their professional activities is increasing day by day. In particular, the detention and arrest of the Kurdish press continues uninterruptedly. On June 16, 16 journalists were arrested in Amed, and on October 28, 9 journalists were arrested as part of the Ankara-based investigation.

 

Gülsüm Altan, wife of Dicle Fırat Journalists Association (DFG) Co-chairperson Serdar Altan, and Gülistan Bulut, wife of Xwebûn Newspaper employee Zeynel Abidin Bulut, one of the imprisoned journalists whose indictments have not been prepared since June 16, called for solidarity on the occasion of January 10.

 

'WORKING JOURNALISTS DAY DOESN'T MEAN ANYTHING'

 

Serdar Altan's wife, Gülsün Altan, said: “Although 7 months have passed since their arrest, the indictment has not yet been prepared. When we met with Serdar, he always talked about supporting and raising the struggle with the messages he gave. Although January 10 is commemorated as Working Journalists Day, today the honor of journalism is trampled on. Journalists do not have freedom of thought in Turkey. 16 journalists have been in prison since June 16. No one still knows why journalists are being accused. In Turkey, he encounters obstacles in making the truth public, he is detained or arrested. It was like this before, but violations and pressures are increasing day by day. That's why Working Journalists' Day means nothing. Today, dozens of journalists are in prison for doing their job, and many journalists have been sued for their reports. Many journalists had to leave the country because of the penalties.”

 

'ATTACKS WILL INTENSIFY IF THERE IS NO CONDEMNATION'

 

Stating that the workers of the free press are always following the truth, trying to tell the truth to the society and never giving up on the truth, Altan said: “Governments in the world always target journalists who oppose them. The government is mostly targeting journalists. The free press is always faced with repression, heavy detentions and arrests. They attack the free press because they are afraid of the truth. On June 16, 16 journalists were arrested and a few months later, 9 journalists were detained and arrested as part of the investigation at the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office. Joint struggle and support should be given against this. If there is no condemnation against this, the attacks of the government will increase. As a family, we want the imprisoned journalists to be released.”

 

'JOURNALISTS CANNOT BE ARRESTED'

 

Gulistan Bulut, the wife of Zeynel Abidin Bulut, also condemned the fact that the indictment has not been prepared for 7 months. Bulut said: "For 7 months, they are examining the investigations that resulted in non-prosecution because they did not find anything to add to the indictment. Even though they look at these, there is no case to prosecute and accuse them. They were arrested for doing their journalism profession."

 

Emphasizing that journalism is done under all conditions, Bulut continued his words as follows: “Journalist can do their job in every way, they can do thier job behind bars. The state can't put journalists behind bars. We also know that they did nothing wrong, that they did their job. Free press journalists are targeted by the government for writing the truth. The government wants to mute the media before the election. 16 journalists have been in prison innocently for 7 months.”

 

Emphasizing the importance of solidarity with journalists in prison, Bulut called on all segments to stand by the free press workers.