By Deniz Tekin
In the first hearing of the trial of Dicle Müftüoğlu, co-president of the Free Journalists Association (DFG), who has been detained for 8 months due to her journalism activities, the court attempted to draft a decision to extend her detention even before her lawyers had finished presenting their defense against the indictment. Despite objections from the lawyers, the court ultimately upheld the same decision at the end of the session.
The trial, which could sentence Müftüoğlu to up to 37.5 years in prison on charges of "establishing and leading an organization" and "being a member of an organization," took place on November 7, 2023, at the Diyarbakır 5th High Criminal Court. Müftüoğlu attended the session via video link from the Sincan Women's Closed Prison. Her lawyers, Resul Temur, MLSA Co-Director Veysel Ok, and MLSA Legal Unit Coordinator Attorney Emine Özhasar, were present in the courtroom.
Journalists previously released in the trial, including Abdurrahman Gök, Rosa Metina, President of the Mesopotamia Women Journalists Association (MKG), DFG Co-President Serdar Altan, and other association executives, as well as representatives from various journalist organizations and numerous journalists attended the hearing in support of Müftüoğlu. Heavy security presence was noted both outside and inside the courtroom.
Unchanged Pressures on Kurdish Journalists
The session began with a two-hour delay. The presiding judge requested Müftüoğlu to defend herself without reading the charges from the indictment. Müftüoğlu started her defense by thanking the journalist organizations and journalists who came in solidarity. She reminded the court that she was arrested in Ankara on May 3, World Press Freedom Day, after being detained in Diyarbakır. She emphasized that her journalism work and the freedom of the press and expression were being judged in this case.
Müftüoğlu highlighted the intolerance of governments uncomfortable with the truth reaching the public, noting increased pressure and intolerance when the issue concerns the Kurdish problem. She mentioned that due to these pressures, many journalists practice self-censorship. "A lot has changed in a century, but the pressures on Kurdish journalists remain the same. Many journalists were murdered for speaking the truth, from Musa Anter to Hrant Dink. I remember them too," she stated.
Journalism Is Not a Profession Conducted by Orders
Müftüoğlu pointed out that the indictment was prepared to overshadow and darken her journalistic activities. She refuted the claims and testimonies of secret and open witnesses as baseless, highlighting that the indictment contained "copy-paste statements." She denied a witness's claim that she was abroad in 2012, explaining she was undergoing treatment for a broken neck due to a traffic accident at that time. She mentioned traveling abroad in 2017 to cover a referendum in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region for news purposes.
She criticized the criminalization attempt of the editorial operations in the news center based on a secret witness's testimony, stating, "There is a professional hierarchy here, not an organizational one. Journalism is not a profession conducted by orders." She compared her agency's prompt reporting on the Roboski massacre in 2011, where 34 villagers were killed by warplanes, to mainstream media waiting for 13 hours for government instructions to report on the incident.
"I've Been a Journalist for 15 Years, Journalism Is Not a Crime"
Müftüoğlu argued that framing the activities of DFG, of which she is a founding member, as criminal in the case file violates the freedom of association, affirming that the association's activities are legal. She criticized the indictment for labeling her phone conversations with journalist colleagues as "organizational activities," stating, "There is nothing more natural than calling and talking to my journalist colleagues. This is unacceptable."
She continued, "The indictment contains a MASAK report. Prosecutors who do not investigate football players sending their money to loan sharks for money laundering have examined my account movements. The allowances sent by my uncle and uncle while I was a university student and my financial transactions with my journalist colleagues have been shown as organizational activities."
Müftüoğlu condemned the exaggeration of these files to portray them as criminals, saying, "I am a journalist, and I want to say that journalism is not a crime. I demand an end to this unjust detention and my release."
Court Denies Müftüoğlu a Chance to Speak
Subsequently, the prosecution requested the continuation of Müftüoğlu's detention in their opinion on the merits. However, the court did not allow Müftüoğlu to respond to the prosecution's opinion.
Lawyer Resul Temur highlighted that Müftüoğlu had been detained for 8 months based on an identification made from a photograph in an irregular manner. Temur said, "Müftüoğlu had a severe traffic accident in 2012 and underwent physical therapy for many years. While Müftüoğlu was at home due to her treatment, the confessor claimed that my client attended illegal training abroad at this time."
Temur criticized the reliance solely on a witness statement without investigating where Müftüoğlu was in 2014 as legally unsound, stating, "Interestingly, the prosecution tried to prove the witness's accuracy based on my client's travel records abroad in 2017."
Ok: You Announced Your Decision Without Taking Our Defense
When MLSA Co-Director was about to make a defense, the presiding judge attempted to end the hearing by attaching a previously prepared interim decision to the hearing minutes. Upon seeing the interim decision for the continuation of Müftüoğlu's detention, Ok told the judge, "You made your decision without taking our defense. I want this to be recorded in the minutes." The judge claimed that Temur had made the defense on behalf of all lawyers and that no witness statements had been taken yet, hence the interim decision. Following Ok's objection, the judge, clarifying a misunderstanding, allowed Ok to make a defense.
Ok: There Is Not a Single Piece of Evidence in the File
In his defense, Ok stated, "The indictment and case file prove that this trial is not legal." He noted that Müftüoğlu had been targeted through news reports during the investigation stage, saying:
"Months of detention, attacks, accusations, and being targeted, and then we face a 43-page indictment. The part concerning Dicle is only 3 pages, containing only the statements of open and secret witnesses, without a single piece of evidence. We thought the prosecutor would present serious evidence when reading the media's reports. But there is no evidence. Müftüoğlu has been meticulously monitored for months. All her writings have been read, all her calls listened to. Yet, there is no evidence to support the allegations. The file is filled with false statements, confessor testimonies, news reports, and unclear statements from an unidentified witness."
Ok concluded his defense by saying to the court panel, "You announced your decision without taking our defense. Let this be recorded in the
