"Freedom Watch" for writer Aslı Erdoğan
After
Özgür Gündem newspaper was closed down with a court order,
newspaper's editorial
consultant and award-winning writer Aslı Erdoğan was arrested on
Friday. A “Freedom Watch” will be started for her in front of
Bakırköy Prison. The first round of the watch will be held today
between 16.00 and 18.00. Women's Initiative for Peace, Peace Block,
Journalists' Union of Turkey, Academics for Peace and writers are
supporting the watch.
What happened?
On August 16, Istanbul 8th Penal Court of Peace had closed Özgür Gündem newspaper down with the charge of “making propaganda for a terrorist organization”. After that, the police forces raided the newspaper and detained 25 people. Aslı Erdoğan, who has been writing for the newspaper and also working as an editorial consultant, was detained on Wednesday. After she had given a statement to the prosecutor, she was arrested on Friday.
The grounds for her arrest are some articles from her column in Özgür Gündem and her job as an editorial consultant. While Erdoğan gave an 8-pages-long statement, a confidentiality order is imposed on her file.
22 people, 20 of them being journalists had been detained on Wednesday during the police raid. On Friday, all of them were released after giving statement. On the other hand, Özgür Gündem's executive editor Zana Kaya and editor-in-chief İlhan Kızılkaya will be in detention at least until August 25.
