News Center - PEN International has released a statement condemning the arrests of 15 journalists and a media worker in Diyarbakır. “15 journalists and one media worker held in pre-trial detention in Diyarbakır must be immediately released,” the statement said.

Calling on the Turkish authorities to immediately release 15 journalists and one media worker held in pre-trial detention in Diyarbakır, south-eastern Turkey, Pen International said in the statement, “Turkey must stop using anti-terrorism and other laws to target independent journalists and uphold the right to freedom of expression, which includes the right to give and receive information.”

The statement also gives information about the detention period of journalists as follows:

“On 8 June 2022, 20 journalists and one media worker were detained following home raids in Diyarbakır, as part of two separate criminal investigations conducted by the Diyarbakır Prosecutor’s Office. The offices of Jin News, Pel Production, Piya Production and Ari Production were also raided, with police officers confiscating cameras, computers, news equipment, and other documents. Although a gag order was imposed on the investigations, pro-government outlets reported that the raids were carried out as part of an anti-terror operation into the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) ‘Press Committee.’ Most of the journalists detained work for pro-Kurdish media outlets.

“The journalists and media worker were held in police custody for eight days. Neither them nor their lawyers were given information about the operations or investigations. On 16 June, the detainees were questioned about their journalistic activities and social media posts, and were notably asked what they thought of the PKK. Later that day, the court ordered the arrest of 16 of them on ‘strong suspicion of membership of a terrorist organisation’; the others were released on probation and placed under a travel ban. They must also report to the police station twice a month.”

Release journalists

Ma Thida, Chair of PEN International’s Writers in Prison Committee, said in the statement, “PEN International strongly condemns the arrests of 15 journalists and one media worker in Diyarbakır, which appear to be part of a systematic effort to silence independent media in Turkey and have a chilling effect on free speech. We fear the journalists are being punished for doing their job. They must be released from pre-trial detention immediately.”

On June 22, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), an international human rights NGO federating 192 organisations from 117 countries, and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), a global NGO group having 200 members in 90 countries, released a statement and demanded the release of the journalists.