July 17, 2024
Hayri Demir
Despite documentation by the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TİHV) showing three journalists being beaten by police while being detained, an expert report did not acknowledge the violence. It was revealed that the police camera was directed to film a different area after the journalists were forcibly handcuffed on the ground.
Journalists Sibel Yükler, Deniz Nazlım, and Yıldız Tar were detained in Ankara while protesting the arrest of fellow journalists. They now face charges for allegedly "getting themselves beaten by the police." The expert report concerning their detention was included in the case file.
Footage shows initial force, but not subsequent violence
The expert report in the case file showed footage of the three journalists being forcibly handcuffed on the ground. However, despite the TİHV report documenting their mistreatment, the police camera was directed to film a different area following the initial handcuffing, and thus did not capture the subsequent violence.
The 12-page expert report, prepared as part of the case at the Ankara 71st Criminal Court of First Instance, included footage of the journalists being forced to the ground and handcuffed.
Police intervention in café
The report also detailed how the journalists were obstructed while attempting to make a press statement in Ankara on July 5, 2022, in response to the detention of colleagues in Diyarbakır on June 16, 2022. It noted that police tried to remove journalists even from a nearby café before the statement.
The transcript of the video showed journalists in the café resisting police orders to leave, questioning, “Are we supposed to make a press statement in the café? We’re just having tea, can’t we drink tea?”
Background
Journalists protesting the arrest of colleagues in Diyarbakır were prevented by police from making a press statement at the Ulus Atatürk Monument Square in Ankara. Sibel Yükler, Deniz Nazlım, and Yıldız Tar, who were inside a nearby passage, were beaten and detained by the police. Photos from the DVD Monitoring and Detection Protocol showed the journalists being forced to the ground and subsequently detained.
The journalists, who were visibly mistreated during their arrest, were released after their statements were taken on the same day. The Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TİHV) documented their mistreatment in a report. However, the prosecution decided not to pursue charges against the police for “torture,” “insult,” “failure to report a crime,” “deprivation of liberty,” and “exceeding the limits of use of force.”
Shortly after the decision not to prosecute the police, the three journalists were charged with “violating the Law on Meetings and Demonstrations No. 2911.”
