MÊRDÎN - The first hearing of the case filed against journalist Ahmet Kanbal due to the photo he did not share was held.

 

The first hearing of the case filed against Mezopotamya Agency (MA) reporter Ahmet Kanbal on the charge of "making propaganda for a terrorist organization" due to a news content he shared on his virtual media account was held. Journalist Kanbal and his lawyer Erdal Kuzu attended the hearing at Mardin 2nd High Criminal Court. Kanbal made his defense at the hearing, which started with the reading of the summary of the indictment.

 

'THERE IS NO SUCH PHOTO IN THE NEWS'

 

Stating that the post that was the subject of the accusation belonged to him, Kanbal said: "This is not the first time that I am being tried for journalism activities. I see that the profession of journalism is being tried again in this case. In this case, I am being tried because of a ridiculous indictment. The Syrian Democratic Forces made a statement about 9 of their fighters who lost their lives in the crashed helicopter. The news agency I work for made news about this, and I shared this. It is nonsense to put this anywhere other than a journalistic activity. The prosecutor prepared an indictment without reading the content of the file, with the guidance of the police. There is no photo showing the crime in the indictment in the news. The photo in the post includes a map determining the borders of Northern and Eastern Syria. There is no such photo in the content of the news I shared, but even if there was, it is not a crime. Prosecutors need to be more careful when preparing an indictment."

 

'FABRICED EVIDENCE WAS CREATED'

 

Lawyer Erdal Kuzu, reminded that his client was detained 5-6 times every year due to his journalistic activities and said: "The client is being tried for making objective news. There is no photo of people in military camouflage in his virtual media post. But in the indictment, it is shown as if there were. Mardin Police Department sent a message to the prosecutor. The article says that this photo was not shared. Although there is no such document, an indictment has been prepared. It is shameful that my client's house was raided and taken into custody because of this photo that he did not share. Ahmet is being tried here because he is an opposition journalist. There is no connection between the indictment and the file. There is no information about those who created forced and fabricated evidence. Action must be taken. The court must make such a decision that such an indictment cannot be prepared again."

 

THE PROSECUTOR WILL PREPARE THE OPINION

 

Then, the hearing was adjourned upon the request of the prosecutor. After the break, the prosecutor requested time to prepare his opinion on the merits. After the break, the court decided to give the prosecutor's office time to prepare the opinion and postponed the hearing to February 1.