Turkey: Vildan Atmaca Detained On Terror-related Charges

Location: Turkey, Istanbul

Date:  February 20, 2022

***Updated on August 23, 2022

Journalist Vildan Atmaca was taken into custody by law enforcement officials without a formal arrest warrant after a raid at her home on February 15, 2022.  Vildan was arrested along 12 local Kurdish politicians from the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) due to her news coverage, with the allegation of “membership in a terrorist organization”.

The Coalition For Women In Journalism (CFWIJ) expresses deep concern over the legal harassment in Turkey, when the law is weaponized against a journalist in order to intimidate them amid irregularity during arrest.

Vildan was detained to Istanbul Police Department over charges of "espionage"  and "spreading terrorist propaganda". She was subjected to ill-treatment by the police and was imposed a 24-hour restriction on access to a lawyer.

As part of an investigation launched in 2021, she was detained on February 15, 2022, in a police raid. Policemen from the Anti-Terror Branch (TEM), broke down the house door, insulted her parents at home by pointing guns, and used force making them lying down on the ground. The search warrant of the prosecutor's office was issued after the house was raided and then later was shown to her. This means police raided her home without legal permission. After raiding her home, they received legal permission from the prosecutor's office. Police did not wait for it and went directly to the journalist’s house.

According to media reports on 18 February, her detention period was extended to 4 other days. Despite the fact that journalist Vildan Atmaca did not receive a search warrant, law enforcement officers knocked on her door, she was detained for 8 days in total and then released after her statement to the prosecutor’s office.

The court’s decision was issued 6 months later not to prosecute the case further on the grounds that not sufficient and concrete evidence could be submitted in the investigation. The decision was cited as a "lack of sufficient evidence to constitute a criminal element" within the scope of the investigation and the case was closed.

Those charges have now been dropped six months after the raid and the journalist plans on going to court against the unfair allegations and legal harassment made against her.

She said that "After the decision, I will file a counterclaim for the damage I have experienced as a journalist and woman.”

Atmaca, was a former reporter for the newspaper Şujin, which was closed under a Statutory Decree (KHK), was detained within the scope of an investigation that had reportedly been launched due to her news coverage between 2015 and 2016.

This was not the first time of been detained. She was also detained and arrested on 13 November 2015 while she was following the news. A trial on charges of "resistance to the police" and "propaganda for a terrorist organization" started against her. But she was released in the first hearing held on 29 December 2015.

The Coalition For Women In Journalism stands in solidarity with journalist Vildan of Vildan Atmaca and demands on immediate-end to arbitrary practices aimed at silencing the free press. CFWIJ condemns the legal harassment of journalists and opposition to silence critical voices. We emphasize that journalism is not a crime and must not be treated as such. The Turkish authorities must respect freedom of expression and allow journalists to report freely without state interference.

The Coalition For Women In Journalism is a global organization of support for women journalists. The CFWIJ pioneered mentorship for mid-career women journalists across several countries around the world and is the first organization to focus on the status of free press for women journalists. We thoroughly document cases of any form of abuse against women in any part of the globe. Our system of individuals and organizations brings together the experience and mentorship necessary to help female career journalists navigate the industry. Our goal is to help develop a strong mechanism where women journalists can work safely and thrive.

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