Several press professional organizations, including MLSA, called for the immediate release of Dicle Müftüoğlu, co-chair of Dicle Fırat Journalists Association and editor of Mezopotamya Agency, who has been in prison for 264 days.
Reminding that an indictment was prepared against Müftüoğlu, who has been imprisoned in Sincan Prison for about 9 months, with the allegations of "being a member of an illegal organization" and "establishing and leading an illegal organization", the statement included the following:
"Now Dicle will appear before the judge for the second time on January 18th. In the first hearing, it was clearly seen that Dicle Müftüoğlu did not have any actions and activities within the scope of the file other than her journalistic activities. It is not Dicle who is on trial here, but journalism. It is clear that this long detention has gone beyond a precautionary measure and turned into a punishment. In fact, the treatment meted out to Dicle explains the approach towards journalists in general, Kurdish journalists in particular, and the state of press freedom in the country. Therefore, we, the undersigned press professional organizations, demand the immediate release of Dicle Müftüoğlu, who was awarded the "Most Resilient Journalist" award last year by the Netherlands-based Free Press Unlimited. We also invite everyone to the Diyarbakır courthouse on January 18 at 11.50 a.m. to show solidarity with Dicle. Let us not forget that, just like Dicle, we defend journalism and we want no one to be subjected to this treatment ever again because of the news they report, because of their thoughts. Once again, we say #FreePressCannotBeSilenced and demand #FreedomForJournalists."
