Suspended without justification: TRT reporter Elif Akkuş detained

Lawyer Hüseyin Ersöz announced on his social media account that Elif Akkuş, a 25-year veteran war correspondent for TRT who had an arrest warrant issued against her, was detained at a police station in Ankara where she had gone to provide a statement. Lawyer Ersöz stated that the reason for the detention was not disclosed, while noting that Elif Akkuş had been suspended by TRT for 3 months in previous years without any justification provided.

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Suspended without justification: TRT reporter Elif Akkuş detained

TRT's 25-year war correspondent Elif Akkuş has been detained at a police station where she went to provide a statement following an arrest warrant issued against her.

Akkuş’s lawyer Hüseyin Ersöz had stated in a post on his social media account on July 20, 2023, that Elif Akkuş had been suspended by TRT without justification, that she was not allowed into the institution's building despite the 3-month period ending, and that her petitions had not been answered.

Hüseyin Ersöz had used the following expressions in a statement he made in recent weeks: “3 TRT inspectors went to Libya to investigate reporting activities conducted ‘during the war.’ They interrogated news sources and threatened them by saying, ‘we will have you detained’”

ARREST WARRANT ISSUED

Making a statement on the subject via social media, lawyer Ersöz stated that a search was conducted at Akkuş's home in Istanbul in the evening, but the arrest warrant could not be executed because Akkuş was in Ankara. After the arrest warrant could not be executed, Akkuş, who was called to the Public Security Branch Directorate by phone, went to the police station and turned herself in.

The full statement by Ersöz is as follows:

"TRT News reporter Elif Akkuş was just detained in Ankara. @reporterefo (Elif Akkuş's X/Twitter handle), whose home in Istanbul was searched in the evening but against whom the arrest warrant could not be executed because she was in Ankara, and who was called to the Public Security Branch Directorate by phone, went to the police station and turned herself in. Let us state that there can be no “legal” justification for issuing an arrest warrant for a journalist who would come if summoned to testify.

TRT News reporter Elif Akkuş is a journalist who has served in the most dangerous war zones. She is a name who personally witnessed the Mavi Marmara ship raid, as well as the conflicts in Libya and Syria. Since no success goes unpunished in Turkey, a name who ‘would have gone if summoned to testify’ is currently in detention. Despite the risk of a blood clot in her brain following a surgery she underwent.''

News Source: 12punto