Canözer has said, “I will continue to pursue the truth with the courage and determination I draw from the free press tradition”

AZİZ ORUÇ

The 3rd Penal Chamber of the Court of Cassation has approved the imprisonment sentence of 1 year 10 months and 15 days handed to journalist Beritan Canözer for the crime of “terrorism propaganda,” stating that there was “no unlawfulness” in the appealed verdict.

Journalist Beritan Canözer has spoken on the Court of Cassation’s approval of her verdict to Expression Interrupted

Detentions, arrests and years of imprisonment

Canözer said that since she started out as a journalist in 2014, her residence had been raided seven times, she had been detained six times and imprisoned pending trial twice, called in to give a statement seven times and faced nine court cases. Canözer added that she had been sentenced to a total of 7 years and 6 months of imprisonment in four separate cases on the charge of “terrorism propaganda.” The total sentence of 2 years and 6 months in two cases has been deferred, while two separate sentences of 1 year 10 months and 15 days and 3 years 1 month and 15 days have not been deferred. 

Canözer: “Judicial pressure and harassment has never ended”

Canözer stated, “From my first day in the profession, I have faced systematic judicial pressure and harassment. I have almost never gone for a year without being detained or facing a new investigation or prosecution. There are three reasons for all this. We go through all this because we are Kurdish, women and journalists. Kurdish journalists are targeted for the same reason.” 

“The government does not want the truth to be known”

“I am not the only journalist in Turkey who has faced judicial harassment, arrest and pressure. Dozens of fellow journalists have been detained or arrested,” Canözer stated and added that the government was uncomfortable with the truth being spoken. Stating that they were facing a fascist mentality, Canözer continued, “The government wants all that happens to be written about and made known by a single source. They don’t want the crimes and the corruption they commit to be written about. Journalists expose all of the government’s dark relationships and the pressure they apply on the people. It is because we expose these things we are targeted for pressure.”

“Journalism is not a crime”

Canözer said that journalists and free press workers continued their struggle despite all the pressure, attacks and detentions, and concluded her remarks by stating, “As journalists, we will continue to write about the truth and make it known using our pens and video cameras. We will continue to report from the streets and the squares. Prisons and imprisonment sentences will not make us step back from journalism, in which we believe in and practice despite everything. We will continue to defend the heritage of journalists such as Musa Anter, Gurbetelli Ersöz, Ayfer Serçe and many others. We will not abandon their heritage. To this end, we will not let the truth be hidden in the darkness.”

“I’ve never thought about giving up this profession, not even for a moment. I’ll continue to pursue the truth with the courage and determination I draw from the free press tradition. They have never managed to silence the truth, in the past or at present; and they will not silence it in the future. Journalism is not a crime.”

Background of the case

A case on the charge of “organization propaganda by means of the press and publications” (CTL 7/2) was filed against Canözer in 2019, over social media posts with news content she had shared between 2013 and 2016. The Diyarbakır 11th High Penal Court sentenced Beritan Canözer to 22 months and 15 days of imprisonment over her social media posts. Canözer’s attorney appealed the ruling. Upon the 2nd Penal Chamber of the Diyarbakır Regional Court of Justice rejecting the appeal on merits, the appeal was submitted to the Court of Cassation in 2021.