Five journalists who were arrested seven days ago while following the trustee protests have been released following the taking of police statements. The journalists said, “We have not been and will not be silent.”
Five journalists who were arrested while following the trustee protests in Mardin have been released following seven days.
The journalists who were arrested while following the protests that took place on 20 August in the city following the appointing of a trustee to Mardin Metropolitan Municipalilty, Ahmet Kanbal, Mehmet Şah Oruç, Jinnews reporter Rojda Aydın and journalists Nurcan Yalçın and Halime Parlak, were released following the taking of their statements.
The journalists who were held for seven days at the Provincial Police Directorate’s Counter-Terrorism Branch were apparently asked questions along the lines of, “Why were you there on the day of the protests?”
Following their release, the journalists made a statement in front of Mardin State Hospital where they had been taken for a health check. Speaking on behalf of his journalist colleagues he had been arrested together with, Ahmet Kanbal said they had been arrested while following the trustee protests and had suffered unjust treatment for seven days.
Interpreting their arrests as “appointing a trustee in their areas of work, too,” Kanbal commented, “We were arrested to prevent us from deciphering trusteeship and giving news of the protests. Let everyone know that we are journalists. And we will continue to do journalism. Just as we have not been silent until today, we will not be silent from now on. We will continue to expose each and every trusteeship implementation. Continue to monitor the truth with us.”
Kanbal ended by thanking all their colleagues who engaged in solidarity with them. (Mardin/MA)
Ceren Sözeri
Yusuf Karadaş
Aras Coşkuntuncel