ANKARA - Police raided our Ankara office and confiscated the MA microphone as a criminal element during the 6-hour searches.

 

The police raid on the Ankara Office of the Mesopotamia Agency (MA) within the scope of the investigation carried out by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office ended after 6 hours. The police, who raided the office at 07:00 in the morning, opened the door with the locksmith  and started searching without anyone present in the office. Detaining MA reporter Şervin Özviran, the police also confiscated her identity card and cell phone.

 

ÖZGÜR GÜNDEM NEWSPAPER ARCHIVE CONFISCATED

 

During the search, the police confiscated the the archives of Özgür Gündem newspaper from the 1990s until August 16, 2016, when it was closed. In addition, the issues of Yeni Yaşam and Kurdish-language newspaper Xwebûn were confiscated. The Hürriyet and Cumhuriyet newspapers in the same shelf were left behind. 

 

PHOTOS OF JOURNALISTS HAVE BEEN CONFISCATED

 

During the searches, the photograph of Nagihan Akarsel, the editor of the Jineology Magazine who was murdered in the city of Slemani in the Federated Kurdistan Region on October 4, and the photographs of 16 journalists who were arrested in Diyarbakir on June 16, were also confiscated.

 

SEARCH CONTINUED FOR 6 HOURS

 

After 6 hours of search, the police seized 5 computers, 2 harddisks, notebooks, a phone and dozens of books. The police also confiscated the MA microphone, considering it a criminal element.