Journalists Protest Police Raid into Their Offices Employees of the Atilim Newspaper and the Etkin news agency (ETHA) staged a protest in Istanbul’s Taksim Square on Tuesday by selling newspapers on the street in response to a police raid into their offices the same day. Law enforcement officials Tuesday raided the offices of the Etkin […]
Journalists Protest Police Raid into Their Offices
Employees of the Atilim Newspaper and the Etkin news agency (ETHA) staged a
protest in Istanbul’s Taksim Square on Tuesday by selling newspapers on the
street in response to a police raid into their offices the same day.
Law enforcement officials Tuesday raided the offices of the Etkin News
Agency (ETHA) and the Gunes Agency, which oversees the technical affairs of
the left-wing weekly Atilim, on claims they are the media outlets of the
Marxist Leninist Communist Party (MLKP.)
The Ninth Istanbul Court for Serious Crimes issued the search orders into
the building where both agencies’ offices are located.
Employees of the Atilim newspaper and the ETHA then staged a protest in
Istanbul’s Taksim Square by selling newspapers in response to the police
raids on Tuesday morning.
ETHA Editor Nadiye Gurbuz said the police had seized all their archives and
notes pertaining to news stories.
“Undercover Anti-Terror police came into our office and said they had a
[warrant] to search both ETHA and the Gunes Agency which oversees the
technical affairs of the Atilim newspaper. The search that began at 10:00
is still underway [as of 17:00.] They seized all our videotapes, notes
pertaining to news stories and our friends’ personal belongings,” she said.
“They did not allow us to work in the meantime. We attempted to publish
news about this raid with a few friends who were left outside, but as the
Etkin News Agency, we are currently unable to report news to our
subscribers,” Gurbuz added.
Law enforcement officials held ten people under custody despite the fact
that they lack detention orders, she said.
“The Atilim newspaper is going to go to print tomorrow; the work for that
has also come to a halt. They seized our cameras. They said there are no
detention orders, but there is a de facto detention. 10 of our friends are
inside,” Gurbuz said.
The officials also brought in an inspector from the Social Security
Institution to write an official report claiming that some employees were
uninsured, according to Gurbuz, who explained that the allegedly uninsured
employees were actually volunteers.
“This is not the first such occasion. This time around, they are searching
for criminal elements in the office on the claim that [the agencies and the
newspaper] are media outlets of the MLKP. They could not stop it this time,
and they will not be able to stop it [in the future] either,” she added.
(CT/RE/NV)
http://www.bianet.org/english/freedom-of-expression/139358-journalists-protest-police-raid-into-their-offices
Journalists Protest Police Raid into Their Offices Employees of the Atilim Newspaper and the Etkin news agency (ETHA) staged a protest in Istanbul’s Taksim Square on Tuesday by selling newspapers on the street in response to a police raid into their offices the same day.
Law enforcement officials Tuesday raided the offices of the Etkin News Agency (ETHA) and the Gunes Agency, which oversees the technical affairs of the left-wing weekly Atilim, on claims they are the media outlets of the Marxist Leninist Communist Party (MLKP.)
The Ninth Istanbul Court for Serious Crimes issued the search orders into the building where both agencies’ offices are located. Employees of the Atilim newspaper and the ETHA then staged a protest in Istanbul’s Taksim Square by selling newspapers in response to the police raids on Tuesday morning.
ETHA Editor Nadiye Gurbuz said the police had seized all their archives and notes pertaining to news stories. “Undercover Anti-Terror police came into our office and said they had a [warrant] to search both ETHA and the Gunes Agency which oversees the technical affairs of the Atilim newspaper. The search that began at 10:00 is still underway [as of 17:00.] They seized all our videotapes, notes pertaining to news stories and our friends’ personal belongings,” she said.
“They did not allow us to work in the meantime. We attempted to publish news about this raid with a few friends who were left outside, but as the Etkin News Agency, we are currently unable to report news to our subscribers,” Gurbuz added.
Law enforcement officials held ten people under custody despite the fact that they lack detention orders, she said. “The Atilim newspaper is going to go to print tomorrow; the work for that has also come to a halt. They seized our cameras. They said there are no detention orders, but there is a de facto detention. 10 of our friends are inside,” Gurbuz said.
The officials also brought in an inspector from the Social Security Institution to write an official report claiming that some employees were uninsured, according to Gurbuz, who explained that the allegedly uninsured employees were actually volunteers.
“This is not the first such occasion. This time around, they are searching for criminal elements in the office on the claim that [the agencies and the newspaper] are media outlets of the MLKP. They could not stop it this time, and they will not be able to stop it [in the future] either,” she added. (CT/RE/NV)
http://www.bianet.org/english/freedom-of-expression/139358-journalists-protest-police-raid-into-their-offices
