Journalists kept under house arrest for a year after being detained in İzmir emphasized the need for an end to crackdown on the press

AZİZ ORUÇ, İZMİR

Mezopotamya Agency reporters Semra Turan, Tolga Güney, Delal Akyüz; JinNews reporter Melike Aydın; Gazete Duvar reporter Cihan Başakçıoğlu and DEM Party Press worker Funda Akbulut were detained in house raids in İzmir on 13 February 2024. On 16 February, journalists Aydın, Güney, Akyüz and Akbulut were referred to court and released on house arrest. Journalists Turan and Başakçıoğlu were also released under judicial control measure of checking in a police station in two days a week.

Aydın, Akyüz and Güney remained under house arrest for a year with electronic handcuffs on their feet. The first hearing in the trial of the three journalists on charges of “membership in a terrorist organization” was held at the İzmir 13th High Criminal Court on 10 February 2025. The court decided to lift the “house arrest” for all three journalists.

One year later, the journalists took off the electronic handcuffs on their feet and started practicing their profession on site again.

Aydın, Güney and Akyüz spoke to Expression Interrupted about the lifting of the “house arrest” judicial control order after a year and their return to reporting on site.

Güney: “I am going out without handcuffs on my feet”

Reminding that the supervision was lifted at the first hearing after a year of house arrest, Güney said the following: “For a week now, I have been able to leave the house without a time limit and without handcuffs on my feet. There is still a feeling that I cannot get used to the situation, that I must return home when I finish my work. From the first day, all the objections made by the lawyers were rejected, and the house arrest lasted for a year. Many journalists were detained and jailed during this period. Some of those jailed were released. Even though we were sentenced to a relatively lesser 'punishment,' what they call 'judicial control' got out of control and turned into a punishment. As a journalist, my site of action, and therefore my field of work, has been restricted. In this one year, there were many events that I wanted to cover but could not be there. But I was away from my camera, away from the news. There were moments when I always felt the sadness of these.”

“I felt like a journalist again”

Expressing that he also made reports from home during this period and continued to fight for nature and environment, Güney said, “But when I went out and got behind the camera for my first news report, I had a different feeling. I felt that I was a journalist again. I immediately made a program for myself and started looking forward to being among the citizens who want to protect their nature, forests, water, soil, and air. In the past, as a journalist, I acted on behalf of the public, knowing that I was their voice. From now on, I will continue to do this, to write, to be the voice of all living things, soil, trees, and to shine a light into the darkness.”

Aydin: “Our homes have been turned into prisons”

“We were punished for being the voice of a people who were forced to be silenced,” Aydın said, adding, “For exactly one year, our homes where we found peace have been transformed from homes into prisons. Our relations with our neighbors and news sources have been damaged.” Explaining that journalism has been criminalized and their profession, which is described as the fourth power, has been tried to be discredited, Aydın said, “The press is like the last place left for this people, whose ability to react has been suppressed, to speak out. Even though it is called ‘the age of post-truth,’ the truth will come out sooner or later through our efforts or on other occasions. Knowing this has kept my morale high throughout my house arrest.”

“I will express my anger by continuing my work”

Stating that it was very difficult to stay away from the field for a year, to watch the current process from afar and not to take part in life, Aydın said, “Our living space has become even narrower. The judicial control measure of being in the same place all the time can be a theft of time. Making someone who has not yet been convicted of a crime watch life from a distance is a refined form of torture. Of course, I am angry and I will express my anger by continuing my work. We also reported at home. But being in the field has another advantage. Being together with my colleagues and the conversations we have broaden one's horizons. The issue is not so much about getting over it, but about what needs to be done to prevent it from happening again.

“I am in a state similar to Franz Kafka's ‘The Trial’”

Explaining that he was jailed in 2019 with the same accusations and similar evidence, spent three months in prison and was acquitted after nearly a year in court, Aydın said, “I am in a state of mind similar to Franz Kafka's ‘The Trial.’ Even when we are doing our work outside, we feel like we are being judged. It is of course good to be in the field. But any ban, including the ban on leaving a place, has a side that hinders the products of thought and creativity. These are all things that can be overcome. For now, our captivity in life, as much as house arrest, is over. We hope it will never happen again. In order to prevent it from happening again, journalists need to be more organized and come together on minimum common grounds.”

Akyuz “It is good to be back in the field”

Delal Akyüz explained that being back in the field after a year of house arrest was an important transformation process due to the nature of the profession: “I continued to report news while I was at home, but being in the field, being able to directly observe events and have one-to-one contact with people is the nature of journalism. Therefore, it is unlawful to remove journalists from the field for different reasons. The fact that journalists face house arrest or other pressures is not only an individual issue, but also a major problem for press freedom and the public's right to information. Despite this, it is necessary to continue reporting on site and be part of the responsibility required by the journalism profession.”

“Pressure on journalists must end”

Akyüz finally made the following statements: “This process gave me a new perspective on the profession and the importance of being in the field. When I returned to the field, I realized that what I missed most was direct observation and witnessing people's stories first-hand, because after a year in prison, the rights violations continued unabated. In fact, the pressures and targeting of journalism are in direct proportion to the rights violations. While the profession of journalism should be supported, unfortunately, efforts to prevent it stand at the forefront. This must come to an end.”