Journalist who recorded police killing of Kurdish man released from jail in Turkey
Journalist Abdurrahman Gök, who recorded the killing of a young Kurdish man by a police officer in Turkey, was released from prison after eight months following a court ruling.
Duvar English
Journalist Abdurrahman Gök on Dec. 5 was released from prison after serving eight months following a court ruling.
Gök recorded the moment police officer Yakup Şenocak killed 23-year-old university student Kemal Kurkut on March 21, 2017 in the Bağlar district of Diyarbakır during a Newroz celebration.
The journalist is facing from seven years, six months to 15 years prison sentence on charges of “membership in a terrorist organization” and from one year to five years on charges of “making propaganda for a terrorist organization.”
He was welcomed by his family, Dicle Fırat Journalists Association (DFG), Mesopotamia Women Journalists Association (MKG), Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA) and Southeastern Journalists Association in front of the Diyarbakır High Security Prison No. 1 he was released from, Mesopotamia News Agency reported.
After his release, Gök said he left some of his colleagues in the prison, who “are under arrest for nonsense reasons, just like me.”
“That's why I can't be fully happy. The situation the country is in will cause the fascist government to collapse sooner or later. I have full faith and hope in this. Because no fascist government or system has been able to sustain itself for a long time. The end of this fascist government will come with the truth. The thing they feared most was the truth. This truth will bring their end,” Gök said.
Gök said he would continue to do journalism in war zones.
“Despite the ongoing pressure on me for Kemal Kurkut since 2017, I will continue to convey Kemal Kurkut's truth. Every time Kemal Kurkut's name is mentioned, my name is also mentioned. I wish he was alive and my name was not mentioned, but unfortunately this is the situation. That's why I will continue to shout and reflect the truth of Kemal Kurkut and people like him,” Gök concluded.
Gök was arrested on April 25 within the scope of an investigation based on witness testimonies. In the indictment, Gök’s reportings on jailed Kurdish politician Selahattin Demirtaş’s books and poems were included.
The indictment also included his phone calls with his colleagues as accusations.
In June, he was sentenced to eight months and 22 days in prison on charges of “making propaganda for a terrorist organization.”