Website editor freed conditionally but still accused of belonging to terrorist group

Aylin Duruoglu, the editor the Vatan newspaper’s website, Gazetevatan.com, was granted a conditional release by an Istanbul court on 23 February, 10 months after her arrest on 27 April for alleged links to a clandestine armed group called Devrimci Karargah (Revolutionary Headquarters). Nine other people who were arrested in the same operation, including Mehmet Yesiltepe, an employee of the magazine Devrimci Hareket (Revolutionary Movement), were also freed conditionally. Duruoglu continues to be accused of belonging to the group because she knew one of its members, Orhan Yilmazkaya, who was killed during the 27 April operation. “We are relieved to learn of these releases but we point out that they come after 10 months of detention,” Reporters Without Borders said. “It is ridiculous to accuse Duruoglu of belonging to an armed group simply because she knew one of its members, something she does not deny (http://www.rsf.org/Woman-journalist-held-for-past.html). We call for the charges against her and Yesiltepe to be withdrawn at once.” Duruoglu had been held in Istanbul’s Bakirköy prison since her arrest, while Yesiltepe was imprisoned in the northwestern city of Tekirdag. The police operation against all those with supposed links to Revolutionary Headquarters came after the group claimed responsibility for the 1 September 2008 bombing of the headquarters of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), in which one person died, and an August 2008 bombing at an army barracks in Üsküdar (on the Asian side of Istanbul). In a statement to the court, Duruoglu said: “For the past 10 months, I have been trying to remember something that would explain my detention. I am before you because I was unable to foresee that a person circulating freely on the streets and with a place in society could be a terrorist. I had never heard of this organisation before my arrest. I had lunch with Orhan Yilmazkaya. I regard myself not as a suspect but as a victim of the terror. I have worked for news media for the past 15 years. I had no reason to collaborate with terrorists.” The next hearing in the case has been set for 29 June. (Photo : Vatan gazetesi)