A Turkish court has ordered the pretrial detention of six journalists and newspaper employees on charges of "membership in a terrorist organization" after they were detained in Istanbul, Mersin, and Van on Jan. 17 as part of an investigation by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Necla Demir, Rahime Karvar, Ahmet Güneş, and Welat Ekin, who were arrested in Istanbul, were taken to the Istanbul Courthouse in Çağlayan following their time in police custody. The prosecutor had initially stated that Reyhan Hacıoğlu, detained in Van, and Vedat Örüç, arrested in Mersin, would give their statements remotely through Turkey’s judicial video conferencing system (SEGBİS). Örüç is represented by MLSA and a MLSA lawyer accompanied his video-conferencing testimony in Istanbul.
However, without taking any statements, the prosecutor referred all six to court with a request for their arrest. The court granted the request and ordered their pretrial detention.
