DİYARBAKIR- It has been learned that the secret witness "CV23TY45UP78", who was included in the indictment of 18 journalists, 15 of whom were imprisoned in Amed(Diyarbakır), was heard before the HDP's decision to block the treasury aid and was shown as evidence in the file.

 

The indictment against Journalists, who are Abdurrahman Öncü, Aziz Oruç, Elif Üngür, İbrahim Koyuncu, Lezgin Akdeniz, Mazlum Güler, Mehmet Ali Ertaş, Neşe Toprak, Ömer Çelik, Ramazan Geciken, Remziye Temel, Serdar Altan, Suat Doğuhan, Zeynel Abidin Bulut and Mehmet Şahin, as well as Kadir Bayram, Esmer Tunç and Mehmet Yalçin who were released, who were detained in Diyarbakır 8 days after being detained on 8 June 2022, were arrested by the court, was accepted. The first hearing will be held on July 11 at the Diyarbakır 4th High Criminal Court. In the indictment, where journalists were charged with "being a member of a terrorist organization", it was learned that the statements of "CV23TY45UP78", who was shown as a secret witness, were cited as "evidence" in the decision to block the treasury aid of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP).

 

CONTRADICTORY STATEMENTS OF ANONYMOUS WITNESS

 

The aforementioned anonymous witness was heard by the Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor's Office on December 21, 2022 at the request of the Supreme Court Chief Public Prosecutor Bekir Şahin and the Ministry of Justice. The statements of the anonymous witness, who were listened to after his statement to the journalists, were included as evidence in the decision to block the treasury aid. The anonymous witness claimed that the HDP provided financial assistance to the institutions where journalists affiliated with the "PKK Press Committee" worked. In the statements of the same anonymous witness in the file prepared about the journalists, the defense that the institutions where the journalists work was financed by the organization drew attention.

 

'THE JOURNALISTS SHOULD BE RELEASED'

 

Reminding that production companies were also raided during the operation against journalists and the "search" lasted for 32 days, Temur said:"The servers of broadcasters broadcasting the programs of journalists and broadcasting abroad were hacked under the pretext of 'search'. The evidence obtained by accessing servers abroad is within the scope of 'forbidden evidence'. We believe that since the process developed in the form of obtaining data and information without permission, it probably constitutes a crime in terms of the laws of the countries where foreign servers are located. Evidence obtained illegally, within the scope of the indictment, an image is drawn as if it has been seized in companies and it is demanded to punish the journalists with this manipulation. Press activities are manipulated by juxtaposing the language and editorial preferences used by journalists in their programs with the evidence obtained illegally. It is understood that there is no illegal act, so the journalists should be released. "