The second hearing of the case filed against Mezopotamya Agency (MA) editor Abdurrahman Gök, who was arrested in Amed on April 25, on charges of "being a member of a terrorist organization" and "making propaganda for a terrorist organization", was held at Diyarbakır 5th High Criminal Court. Gök was present at the hearing, which was watched by representatives of journalistic professional organizations.

 

GÖK: THE WITNESS STATEMENT DOES NOT REFLECT THE TRUTH

 

Stating that the witness statement did not reflect the truth, Abdurrahman Gök said: "I have been a journalist for more than 20 years. I have been doing conflict area journalism for the last 10 years of my journalism. I am not an employee of Pel Production, I am an employee of MA. All the evidence put forward by the prosecution is the news I made in MA. Even this refutes this. Despite this, he is saying that he saw me once in  Pel Production in January 2020. I was injured in January 2020. I even came to the proceedings here with a walking stick. Even here it was revealed that the witness was wrong. I was a Parliament reporter in 2009. I went to Newroz celebrations in Sêrt(Siirt) and Amed(Diyarbakır). I was arrested for the photos I took during Newroz and was imprisoned for 8 months. I was later released; that's why, I don't think the witness said anything real. I saw him here for the first time. There was no statement about me in the file. These statements were not there when the prosecutor's office first showed them to me. Then, my name was mentioned in 5 statements of this witness. I think he gave a statement under direction."

 

OK: TURKISH STATE ATTEMPTS TO ILLEGALIZE PEL PRODUCTION

 

MLSA lawyer Veysel Ok said: "Gök was being tried for 'disturbing the government'. Pel Production is a legal company and Gök does not work here. There is an attempt by the Turkish state to illegalize the production with the accusation in question. According to the witness allegations, it is against logic for such a journalist to say such a thing to a person they first met. Akbıyık is a confessor. According to the Supreme Court, confessor witness statements alone cannot constitute a crime. He utters this slander to save himself."

 

Referring to the allegation that MA is "connected with terrorism" and reminding the Constitutional Court's Cemil Uğur decision, Ok said: "The journalist will not be tried through the agency. The unfinished news and records in the hands of the journalist cannot be a crime. When we look at the file here, we know that the real reason is Kemal Kurkut photographs. We demand release."

 

The prosecution requested release, taking into account the period of imprisonment.

 

The court decided to release Gök on the condition of a ban on leaving the country. The hearing was postponed to March 12.