Melike Aydın, a reporter for the pro-Kurdish news website JİNNEWS in the western city of Izmir, has been held under house arrest since February 2024. She was charged with membership in a terrorist organization in late October and the trial is scheduled to begin on February 10, 2025.
Izmir police raided the houses of five journalists, including Aydın, and took them into custody on February 13, 2024. Police kept the detainees handcuffed from behind for hours while they were in custody, according to reports and the journalists, who spoke to CPJ. On February 16, three of the journalists, including Aydın, were placed under house arrest under suspicion of terrorism activity by an Izmir court. The court ordered electronic tagging to ensure they do not leave their homes. Aydın told CPJ that the house arrest is hindering her ability to work.
The two others were released under judicial control, which involves the obligation to report to a police station twice a week and a ban on foreign travel.
CPJ reviewed the indictment against the Aydın, which charges her with membership in the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), classified by Turkey as a terrorist organization. Secret witness testimonies and Aydın’s journalistic activity, such as texts and calls related to her reporting, were offered as evidence of ties to terrorism by the prosecutors in the indictment.
CPJ spoke to Aydın via messaging app in November 2024. She said the case against her is “completely political” and the indictment is based on falsified testimonies by people who do not know about the profession of journalism.
CPJ’s email to the Turkish Ministry of Justice in November 2024 did not receive any reply.