The journalist, who faces an investigation for “spreading false information,” noted that the raid on her house and the investigation against here were aimed at preventing the public's right to information

FERİD DEMİREL, HAKKARİOn 20 September, police officers raided the house of JinNews reporter Rabia Önver, who was reporting on alleged drug traffickers and sex workers, in Yüksekova district of Hakkari. The police searched the house for hours as part of an investigation launched by the Hakkâri Chief Public Prosecutor's Office on the allegation of “spreading false information,” stating that that there was a warrant for Önver's arrest.

Önver, who was not at home during the raid, could not be taken into custody. The materials in the house, which had been ordered to be confiscated, could not be seized because Önver was not at home.Önver stated that her residence is in Yüksekova, where her family lives, and that she was not at home at the time of the raid because she had gone out of the city for news coverage.

After the raid, the chief public prosecutor's office informed Rabia Önver's lawyers, who had met with the Hakkâri Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, that Önver's statement would not be taken. In response, Rabia Önver went to the Hakkâri Courthouse on 24 September 2024 with her lawyer Azad Özer to give her statement to the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office. However, the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office again stated that it would not take Önver's statement. It is stated that the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office will contact Önver's lawyer or Önver himself if necessary.

Önver was accompanied to the courthouse by members of the Dicle Fırat Journalists Association, the Mesopotamia Women Journalists Association, and a number of journalists.

“They are preventing the people's right to information”Önver stated that an investigation was launched on the allegation of “spreading false information” and said: “It is not a misleading report. Everyone sees and knows that special war policies are at an extreme level. I live in this region and I am a witness.”

Rabia Önver stated that the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office did not give any reason for not taking her statement and that the arrest warrant against her was lifted after the raid on her house.

Önver said that while she was expecting an investigation to be launched against those who were named in the accusations that were the subject of her news report, she could not make sense of the fact that an investigation was launched against her, and that she was looking for an answer to this. Önver stated that the raid on her house and the initiation of an investigation against here was an attempt to prevent the public's right to receive news and said the following: “The voice of journalism and the free press is being clamped down. They are trying to prevent the people's right to information. But we will continue to defend the people's right to information.

No matter how many special war policies they have, I will continue to expose them. They should know that they cannot silence the free press.”

Her house was raided after her news item was publishedRabia Önver started publishing a series of articles titled “Colemêrg’de Özel Savaş” (Private War in Colemêrg) in JinNews on 18 September 2024.

In the series, Önver claimed that those who force people between the ages of 15 and 21 to use drugs and work as sex workers in Hakkari, are protected by the official authorities.