Journalists Nazım Daştan and Cihan Bilgin, who were following the developments in North and East Syria, were killed in a Turkish UCAV attack on 19 December on the road between Tishreen Dam and Sirîn town. Protests against the murder of the journalists were criminalised by the police in many cities.

 

31 journalists were detained during the protest in Istanbul and 10 journalists were detained in Wan (Van). 7 of the journalists detained in Istanbul were arrested on the allegation of "making propaganda for a terror organization" on the grounds that they were carrying photographs of their murdered colleagues.

 

The condolence organised for journalist Dashtan in Giyadîn (Diyadin) district of Agirî (Ağrı) was prevented by the police. The police also attacked the protests organised in many cities. The police alleged that the murdered journalists were "members of a terror organization" and detained many people. The pro-government media and some figures attempted to create perception by writing that the murdered journalists were "members of a terror organization".

 

NO FINALISED SENTENCE

 

Journalist Daştan was detained and arrested on 10 February 2016 before crossing to North and East Syria. Daştan was acquitted in the first hearing of the trial on the allegations of "membership in a terror organization", "making propaganda for a terror organization", "threatening", "public incitement to hatred and hostility" and "public dissuasion from military service".

 

Another case was filed against Daştan for 54 posts he made on his virtual media account between 18 August 2015 and 15 January 2016. Daştan was acquitted in the hearing held on 1 November 2016 in the case with similar allegations.

 

Gaziantep Chief Public Prosecutor's Office prepared a different indictment on 13 June 2016 on the grounds of the protests and events Daştan covered between 2012 and 2014. The first hearing of the case was held on 17 January 2017 at Antep 2nd High Criminal Court. A warrant was issued on 13 April 2017 for Daştan, who has been following developments in North and East Syria. On 24 December 2019, a new investigation was opened for "making propaganda for a terror organization". While Daştan's testify was not taken, an indictment was prepared by Gaziantep 2nd Criminal Judicature of Peace. On 5 May 2024, the case files against Daştan were merged. The trial of the merged case against Daştan is still ongoing.

 

CHARGED FOR JOURNALISTIC ACTIVITIES

 

Resul Tamur, who acquitted Daştan, emphasised that Daştan was an experienced journalist. Lawyer Tamur stated that while Daştan was working as a journalist in Dîlok (Antep), he conducted a research on groups and individuals in Turkey with whom ISIS had links. Tamur stated that Syrian journalist Naji El Jarf was killed on 27 December 2015 while he was working on a documentary on ISIS, and that Daştan had also reported on Jarf's killing and was in the process of researching the incident. Tamur shared that Daştan had conveyed the aforementioned information to him during the trial. Tamur pointed out that Daştan was arrested for his virtual media posts during his research on Jarf's murder.

 

Reminding that Daştan was threatened by two intelligence officers during his transfer to the Antep Courthouse with the words "You are lucky that they detained you before us, otherwise you would have ended up like Jarf", Tamur said, "Nazım told me this too. He even told me this with a laugh and then said, 'Maybe I was really lucky'. Therefore, Nazım's targeting, arrest and prosecution at that time was entirely due to his journalistic activities."

 

'COVER FOR KILLING'

 

Tamur stated that Daştan was acquitted of all charges and said, "Nazım was a journalist. Nazım continued his journalism in the conflict zone after leaving Turkey. He was in a position to meet with his family, relatives and friends from Turkey while continuing his conflict journalism. Nazım had been working as a journalist in Rojava for about 8 years and this was a reality known by everyone. There is nothing legal about a journalist who has been working as a journalist for 8 years being declared an 'organization member' after he was killed. In fact, this is like 'looking for a cover for killing'."

 

Emphasising that the protests carried out by journalists against the murder of their colleagues is a normal reaction, he said: "There is a great danger in using investigations or prosecutions of journalists to legitimise their murder."

 

Tamur continued as follows: "Especially when we look at the Kurdish press, we know that there is not a single journalist who has not been accused of the allegations against Nazım and Cihan. Therefore, we can easily say that they are all threatened with extrajudicial execution. The fact that Nazım and Cihan were executed extrajudicially due to any accusation of a crime opens this form of attack to discussion in terms of international law. Especially the use of UCAV in extrajudicial executions means the emergence of war crimes that cannot be prevented."

 

MA / Rukiye Adıgüzel