Journalists Gayıp and Şahin Not Released
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The second hearing of the case, where four people have been arrested pending trial, including journalists Pınar Gayıp and Semiha Şahin from the Etkin News Agency (ETHA), was held at the İstanbul 23rd Heavy Penal Court in İstanbul Courthouse today (December 5).
While Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Party Assembly Member Nadiye Gürbüz and friends and relatives of the journalists followed the hearing, all arrested defendants and their attorneys also appeared in court.
Şahin: We have been deprived of our freedom
Making a statement at the hearing, ETHA editor Semiha Şahin said,
"We have been arrested for eight months. We are under arrest due to the news that we made and our political attitude. We are under arrest because of our social media posts. We are under arrest due to our profession. Journalism is not a crime. I request my release because we did our jobs and because we have been deprived of our freedom."
ETHA reporter Pınar Gayıp also stated that she is a journalist who has been arrested for eight months and requested her release.
After the defendants and their attorneys completed their statements, the court board ruled that the detention of arrested journalists Pınar Gayıp and Semiha Şahin shall continue and the other two arrested defendants, Ferhat Harun Pehlivan and Gülsen İmre, shall be released.
The next hearing of the case will be held on January 30, 2019.
What happened?
Journalists from Etkin News Agency (ETHA) Pınar Gayıp and Semiha Şahin were detained from their homes at around 2 a.m. on April 13, 2018. On April 19, Şahin and Gayıp were arrested by the Prosecutor's Office, where they were referred along with Federation of Socialist Youth Associations (SGDF) member Ferhat Pehlivan and Gülsen İmre.
Semiha Şahin was charged with "being a member of an illegal organization and propagandizing for it"; Pınar Gayıp was charged with "being a member of an illegal organization"; Ferhat Harun Pehlivan and Gülsen İmre with "propagandizing for an illegal organization". (EMK/SD)