Mesopotamia Agency (MA) reporter Cemil Uğur who broke the story about two villagers thrown from a military helicopter, and got arrested with 3 other journalists, wrote a letter from Van High Security Prison.

 

Stressing that all the news he wrote aimed to bring the truth to the people, Uğur said: "And we are jailed for this today. We see that they can not accuse us of something from the questions they asked us. Think about it they have tapped my phone and listened to me for months and all they asked was an interview I made over the phone with the family member of a sick prisoner. Journalism is being prosecuted here. We all have to see that."

 

REASONED DECISION

 

Reminding that the court accused them of not having the press card given by the presidency, Uğur told that they were locked up because they did not reflect the point of view of the government. Underlining that they will not write the news getting instructed by any party or government, Uğur said: "We know that the government wouldn't ever give us those press cards. And hundreds of journalists in Turkey works without those press cards. The reasoned decision of the court was a black mark in the history. We will protect the honour of our profession that they want to trample."

 

Uğur said: "What we wrote about the helicopter incident was the hospital reports and eyewitness statements. We didn't make those up and didn't write anything else other than the facts. Instead of investigating the incident effectiveley, they chose to detain and arrest us. In a country where the trust in the judicial system is fading away on a daily basis, we get our strength from the people. Obeying government does not have a place in our tradition and it never will be. Journalism is not a crime. You can't silence the truth."