NEWS CENTER - The second hearing of journalist Abdurrahman Gök, who photographed the Kemal Kurkut murder, is tomorrow. Gök is on trial due to the statements of a witness he has never met and the news of the translation of a book written in the 1800s.
Abdurrahman Gök, one of the imprisoned editors of Mezopotamya Agency (MA), will appear before the judge once again tomorrow. Allegations of "being a member of a terrorist organization" and "making propaganda for a terrorist organization" are being made against Gök, who has been detained for more than 7 months.
SHENGAL, KOBANÊ, KEMAL KURKUT, EARTHQUAKE…
Gök, who has been a journalist for more than 20 years, has written many important news articles that have left their mark on the agenda so far. He became the voice of the Ezidis in Shengal, which was targeted by ISIS on August 3, 2014. He was one of the journalists who announced the resistance in Kobanê to the whole world on October 5, 2014. He prevented the truth from being reversed by photographing the moment when Kemal Kurkut, who was murdered by a police bullet during Newroz in Amed in 2017, was shot.
He saw and wrote about what happened in Iran, where Jîna Emînî was murdered. After the last earthquake on February 6, 2023, in which tens of thousands of people lost their lives, he returned to Mereş's Bazarcix (Pazarcık) district.
'FASCISM WILL BE DEFEATED, LONG LIVE THE FREE PRESS'
Gök has been a target many times in his professional life. He was detained many times and arrested on similar charges. Most recently, he was among the 126 people detained in house raids in 21 provinces on April 25, within the scope of an investigation carried out by the Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor's Office. On April 27, he was arrested by the Diyarbakır 5th Criminal Judgeship of Peace on charges of "being a member of a terrorist organization" and "making propaganda for a terrorist organization".
In the courthouse corridors where he was arrested, he said: “Don't worry, fascism will be defeated. The fascist will go away. Down with fascism, long live the Free Press."
The first hearing of Gök, who is currently held in Diyarbakır High Security Closed Prison No. 1, was held on September 14. He was not released in the case handled by the temporary committee. His hearing has been postponed to December 5 (tomorrow).
At the first hearing, it was decided to hear Ümit Akbıyık, who has "testified" about hundreds of people so far. It was also decided to request Gök's files in the Supreme Court.
ALLEGATIONS IN THE INDICTMENT
Gök is being tried based on a 14-page indictment. A part of the indictment prepared on the 47th day of Gök's detention consists of the "KCK structure". Other sections consist of open and secret witness allegations, news, the content of confiscated books and the number of phone calls he had with his colleagues.
GÖK: I WAS ARRESTED BASED ON FALSE STATEMENTS
Akbıyık, the open witness who is expected to be heard at the upcoming hearing, claims that Gök worked at Pel Production and "carried out activities by receiving instructions from members of the organization".
Stating that the allegations in question at the first hearing, Gök said: "Akbıyık testified 4 times during the investigation process and did not say anything about himself in his statements. I conveyed this to the investigation prosecutor. My name is not even included in the first two witness investigations. In his witness statement, he says that I work at PEL production. I didn't work there, I was arrested based on his false statements. In his witness statement, he says he saw me once."
Another accusation leveled against Gök in the indictment is the image titled "Kobanê;neither a film nor a documentary". According to the prosecutor; It is "a terrorist organization propaganda".
DOCUMENTARY ACCUSE
Gök also has an objection to this claim; "Of course, there will be cemeteries and statues in the videos I shot in the documentary about Kobanê, which is a city. The beautifications in the documentary have been made a subject of accusation, and it is not me who made the beautifications, but the people there. Of course, they will be beautifying, thousands of people died to take that place from ISIS. It has not been taken. If they had, we would be neighbors with ISIS today. They defended that place against ISIS. The President at that time said that we opened the corridor. Suleiman Shah Tomb was brought from Esme under the control of YPG/YPJ. How can a documentary be the subject of accusation in such a situation?"
THE BOOK WRITTEN IN 1830 BECAME THE SUBJECT OF ACCUSE
The most striking accusation in the indictment is the news about book promotions. The promotional news about the book "The Story of a Mountain", written by Élisée Reclus in the 1800s and whose Turkish translation was published by Aram Publishing House in 2021, was also made the subject of accusation in the indictment.
Drawing attention to the fact that the book in question was written in 1830, Gök said: "They were trying to create a crime from the word 'mountain'. Many publishing houses sent their books to me or the agency as a protocol. I was accused of the content of the books."
LETTER WRITTEN TO THE MINISTRY
The most striking accusation in the indictment is the news about the letter written by the disabled Kısa family in Elbistan to the Minister of Justice. The letter sent by journalist Gök's 70-year-old mother, Elif Kısa, to the then Minister of Justice, Abdullahamit Gül, by her hearing and speech impaired son, Ahmet Kısa, who was arrested on December 3, 2020 and put in Elbistan Type E Closed Prison, was made the subject of accusation.
Gök's phone conversations with his colleagues between 2017 and 2020 and the books seized during the house search were made the subject of accusations.