The court has ruled to continue the international travel ban, which has been in effect for three years, and referred the case to the prosecutor’s office for the preparation of the final opinion on the case

MİZGİN TABU, DİYARBAKIR

The 11th hearing in the trial of 19 journalists, who were imprisoned pending trial on 16 June 2022 as part of an investigation led by the Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, on charges of “membership in a terrorist organization” and “terrorism propaganda” was held at the Diyarbakır 4th High Criminal Court on 9 July 2026. The journalists had remained in detention for over a year, and were released at the end of the first hearing.

At the hearing, which was monitored by P24, Elif Üngür, one of the journalists on trial, and the journalists’ lawyer, Resul Temur, were present. The Dicle Fırat Journalists’ Association and the Mezopotamya Women Journalists’ Association also monitored the hearing as observers.

Lawyer Temur requested that the international travel ban be lifted, noting that due to the ban, which has been in place for three years, the journalists have been unable to see their families or practice their profession.

The court, which ruled that the travel ban should remain in place, decided to refer the case file to the public prosecutor’s office so that a final opinion on the case could be prepared. 

The trial was adjourned until 10 November 2026.

Background of the case

Some production companies in Diyarbakır were raided by the police on 8 June 2022 over claims that they were shooting programs and producing content for the Stêrk TV and Medya Haber TV channels, which broadcast abroad. Several journalists, whose homes and workplaces were also searched by the police, were detained as part of the investigation. The police took a month to search the premises of the production companies.

The police presented video cameras and news materials confiscated during the searches as “evidence of terrorist organization’s activity” and provided images of these to the press. Sixteen journalists were imprisoned pending trial on 16 June 2022.

The Diyarbakır Chief Prosecutor’s Office filed a 728-page long indictment against the 18 journalists on charges of “membership in a terrorist organization” and “terrorism propaganda.” At the end of the first hearing held at the Diyarbakır 4th High Criminal Court on 11-12 July 2023, 16 Kurdish journalists and press workers were released with a ban on travelling abroad after 13 months in detention.

With the addition of four individuals to the case, the number of journalists on trial rose to 20. Later, journalist Mehmet Şahin's case was separated from the file at the sixth hearing and merged with another case file heard at the Diyarbakır 5th High Criminal Court. With this decision, the number of journalists on trial fell to 19.