Sixteen of the twenty two women who had been kept in detention since Monday 5 April in Diyarbakır (Amed) in Turkey were referred to the courthouse on Thursday evening, according to Jin News.
A court in Diyarbakır sent six women – Satiye Ok, Leyla Akgül, Ayşen Kanuş, Nurşen Akbal, Şehriban Zuğurli and Figen Aras – to prison on charges of “terrorism”. Nezahat Teke, a Peace Mother, was placed under ‘house arrest’ and nine women were released under judicial control.
Police had raided the Rosa Women’s Association – a women’s organisation based in Diyarbakır (Amed) campaigning against violence against women – alongside the homes of many women activists in the early hours of Monday morning. Jin News reporter Beritan Canözer had been one of the twenty two who were detained during the raids.
Duration of detention extended for six women
The duration of detention for the six remaining women was extended. They remain under police custody and include the Democratic Regions Party’s (BDP’s) Diyarbakır office provincial co-chair Seval Gülmez, the Peoples’ Democratic Party’s (HDP’s) former co-mayor for Kayapinar district, Besile Narin, the Free Women’s Movement (TJA) activists Zelal Bilgin and Emine Kaya and Diyarbakır Municipality Assembly members Bahar Karakaş Uluğ and Ruken Bekalp.
Canözer faced accusations due to her journalistic work
Jin News reporter Beritan Canözer was amongst the nine women who were released after they were referred to the court. The questions asked by the police officers during the ‘testimony procedures’ at the a police station in Diyarbakır targeted her profession as a journalist, Jin News reported.
“Why do you name the raids against the TJA as a political genocide?” and “Who issued press statements during the time you have been detained?” were amongst the questions Canözer was reportedly asked by the police.
Canözer was also accused of recording the press statements of the HDP’s Diyarbakır Office and also of reporting the press statement of Democratic Society Congress (DTK) co-chair and HDP’s MP for Hakkari (Colemerg) Leyla Güven when she made a statement after a trial she was been subjected to.
Canözer’s report that was broadcast on JIN TV on 25 March, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, was also considered to be a ‘crime’ and it was listed as part of the accusations against her.
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