Press workers stand tall in Ankara: 'Journalism is not a crime'

Journalist İsmail Arı had been referred to the criminal judgeship of peace by the prosecutor's office with a request for arrest without his statement being taken. Journalism professional organizations announced their meeting in response to the increasing pressure on journalism under the title "Freedom for İsmail Arı and Alican Uludağ."

'HE IS NOT THE FIRST JOURNALIST'

BirGün Ankara Representative Nurcan Bilge Gökdemir made statements. Gökdemir said, "İsmail Arı is not the first journalist to be arrested in this order. If solidarity and opposition do not develop, unfortunately, he will not be the last. We journalists perform our profession within the scope of press freedom guaranteed by the Constitution, with the aim of ensuring that the public reaches accurate information. However, we see that we are deprived of legal security. We are the subjects of investigations, lawsuits, penalties, detentions, and arrests almost every day." On the other hand, emphasizing the public's will to uphold democracy and press freedom against the pressures on the press, Gökdemir stated, "It is a necessary and no longer postponable need to grow solidarity so that İsmail Arı, Alican Uludağ, Merdan Yanardağ, and all other imprisoned journalists can regain their freedom, and at the same time, so that no journalist is thrown into prison ever again. All imprisoned journalists must be released as soon as possible, and the pressures and threats against journalism must end immediately. We shout once again: Journalism is not a crime. The place for journalists is not prisons. Silence and censorship kill democracy."

'JOURNALISTS ARE NOT ENEMIES'

Following Gökdemir's remarks, the joint statement of the Journalism Professional Organizations was read by Sinan Tartanoğlu, Ankara Branch President of the Journalists Union of Turkey. Tartanoğlu stated the following:

"İsmail Arı, who was detained in an operation at night in Tokat, where he had gone for a family visit during the Ramadan Feast, was arrested within 24 hours after being brought to Ankara. We had experienced a similar process a while ago when Alican Uludağ was detained from his home by dozens of police officers and sent to prison 22 hours later. As many of our colleagues working in Ankara know and are closely familiar with, both İsmail Arı and Alican Uludağ have gone and given statements in dozens of investigations opened against them, and have not delayed the process for even a moment. We emphasize that the detention procedure applied to both of our colleagues, who would have come if invited to give a statement, is unacceptable.

BirGün reporter İsmail Arı is a name who has signed many award-winning news reports and whose reports are based on documents. Arı was arrested for the crime of TCK 217/A, namely 'publicly spreading misleading information,' which many politicians in Parliament said would not target journalists.

With which news report did he try to 'spread misleading information to the public'? When was this news report made? What do the ruling party deputies, who made statements in Parliament while the Disinformation Law was being enacted saying, 'This does not concern journalists, there is no situation that hinders news,' think about these arrests?

To date, investigations have been opened against dozens of journalists for this crime, and some have unfortunately been arrested. Finally, a short while ago, journalist Bilal Özcan was also arrested and sent to prison for the same crime.

A striking practice in the investigations of both Alican Uludağ and İsmail Arı was that after the detention, while they were still giving their statements, attempts were made to change the nature of the crime by adding new accusations and new news reports to the file. Our colleagues' news reports and comments were portrayed as criminal elements and interpreted in a way that would justify arrest, and decisions restricting freedom were signed.

Journalists are not enemies. This 'enemy law' must be abandoned. Respect must be shown to news and the reporter.

It is unacceptable to legitimize and normalize these steps targeting Press and Freedom of Expression. We oppose the criminalization of our profession and emphasize once again that we are in solidarity with our colleagues who share real and reliable information in line with universal principles and the public's right to receive information.

It should not be forgotten that attempts to silence journalists are practices that also inflict deep wounds on our country's democracy.

As the professional organizations with signatures below, we call out once again. All imprisoned journalists must be released as soon as possible.

Press Council

Contemporary Journalists Association

Diplomacy Correspondents Association

DİSK Press-İş

Economy Correspondents Association

Journalists Association

Izmir Journalists Association

KESK Haber-Sen

Media and Law Studies Association

Parliamentary Correspondents Association

Journalists Union of Turkey"

News: Cenk Başboğaoğlu

Photos: Ezgi Bayram

News Source: Cenk Başboğaoğlu