Jailed journalist Alağaş: No persecution can break our pen

“It should be known that no oppression and persecution will be able to break a journalist woman's pen,” JINNEWS News Director Safiye Alağaş, who is one of the 16 Kurdish journalists arrested in Amed, said in a message.

On June 8, 22 people, 20 of them being journalists, were detained during police raids in Amed (Diyarbakir) as part of an investigation carried out by the Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor.

The journalists were referred to court on June 15 after 8 days of detention, and 16 of them were remanded in custody.

The arrested journalists who are accused of "membership in a terrorist organization" and "making propaganda for a terrorist organization" are as follows: JINNEWS News Director Safiye Alağaş, Dicle Fırat Journalists Association (DFG) Co-chair Serdar Altan, Xwebûn Editor-in-Chief Mehmet Ali Ertaş, Mesopotamia (MA) Agency Editor Aziz Oruç, Ömer Çelik and Zeynel Abidin Bulut, Mazlum Doğan Güler, İbrahim Koyuncu, Neşe Toprak, Elif Üngür, Abdurrahman Öncü, Suat Doğuhan, Remziye Temel, Ramazan Geciken, Lezgin Akdeniz and Mehmet Şahin.

JINNEWS News Director Alağaş sent a message from Diyarbakır Women's Closed Prison where she is being held. “No oppression and persecution will be able to break a woman's pen,” she said.

“First of all, we are very good. We were arrested because our journalism was considered a crime, but it should be known that no oppression and persecution will be able to break a woman's pen. We are journalists and we will continue to do journalism. Thank you to everyone who supported us. Hope we will meet when we are all free…”

JinNews has existed since September 2017 and reports from a feminist perspective in Kurmancî, Kirmanckî - this variety of Kurdish is also called Zazakî, Dimilkî or Kirdkî - Turkish, English and Arabic. The agency is based in Amed (tr. Diyarbakır) and is known for its critical and intensive examination of the political and social situation in the country. Its predecessor, JINHA, whose founders include the artist Zehra Doğan, had previously been banned by decree under the state of emergency.