AZİZ ORUÇ
Journalist Mahmut Altıntaş, who reported being illegally detained and beaten by police, expressed outrage, saying, "I was both subjected to violence and narrowly avoided arrest."
Mahmut Altıntaş, a reporter for the Mezopotamya Agency (MA), was detained on January 27 in Adıyaman's Yeni Mahalle while on assignment. He was charged with "making terrorist propaganda" based on his own reports and those of MA shared on his X (Twitter) social media account. In the 24-page police statement, 19 of Altıntaş's posts were claimed to be criminal. After his interrogation, Altıntaş was released with a judicial control order.
Altıntaş's reports mistranslated
Altıntaş stated, "My reports in Kurdish were wrongly translated into Turkish by Google Translate. I was accused based on these mistranslations. However, I insisted that my posts and articles were an exercise of freedom of expression."
He mentioned being questioned about his reports on North and East Syria and isolation, saying, "They questioned each of my reports. Irrelevant questions like 'What do you think about the PKK?' were also asked. They tried to criminalize my reports and posts, acting as if they were not journalistic activities."
Police officers burst Altıntaş's lip
Discussing the assault by police, Altıntaş said:
"After my statement at the police station, I was taken to the hospital. When leaving the hospital for the Adıyaman Courthouse, the police, despite my hands being cuffed, tried to forcibly bend my head down. As they did this, many other police officers surrounded us. They held me down and beat me. When I reacted, I was struck in the face. One officer held my neck while another stuck his finger in my mouth. Others held my arms. Then, they dragged me to the back of the courthouse, pushing my neck and arms down the stairs while insulting me. I received a blow to my face, causing my lip to bleed, and suffered hits in various parts of my body.
Police who assaulted the journalist filed a complaint against him
Continuing, Altıntaş said:
"After the first detention, I was released with a judicial control order. But before I could leave the courthouse, the police who assaulted me detained me again at the entrance, claiming 'you have a statement to give.' At the station, they said I needed to give a statement because the assaulting officers filed a complaint against me. I waited about two hours to give my statement, but it never happened. Later, I was informed that I was under arrest by the prosecutor's order and would be presented in the morning. I spent that night in detention. After giving another statement, I was released. I was beaten by the police and unlawfully detained.
Pressure on journalists has always been present but has intensified in recent years. The AKP-MHP government cannot tolerate voices other than its own. The pressure on journalists increases, but it's tenfold for Kurdish journalists. Kurdish journalists have faced this pressure for years. There have been murdered journalists, arrests, and closed newspapers and agencies, among other issues. Kurdish journalists continue to write the story of a people that is ignored, facing murder and arrest. They make the unseen visible, challenging the limits set by the state and the government, who try to stop this with pressure. We still have colleagues in prison. Many colleagues were recently released, and their trials continue. Along with all this, there's a serious injustice. I was beaten, punched in the face by the police, but I was accused of 'resisting the police' and almost got arrested. This is just a small concrete example of the state of the law."
After obtaining a medical report for the assault and filing a complaint against the police at the prosecutor's office, Altıntaş expressed doubts about whether necessary actions would be taken, stating, "The police act arbitrarily because they know nothing will happen to them."
