Yeniçağ News Chief Aykut Metehan visited journalist Fatih Ergin, who has been detained since September 28, in prison.
Metehan, who narrated their conversation, stated that Ergin, who made evaluations about the prison conditions, said that there were more prisoners in the wards than the capacity, the food was often inedible and they could not watch opposition television channels.
Evaluating the reason for his detention, Ergin stated that he corrected the title mistake he made in a social media post, but was still arrested, and said that the real reason was the funding news he had previously published.
Ergin stated that he misspelled a title in the social media post that led to his arrest, and that he corrected the post when he received the correct information. However, Ergin claimed that his arrest was not related to this mistake and pointed to the funding news he had previously published.
“ACCESS TO MY THREE FUND NEWS HAS BEEN BLOCKED, ALL HAVE BEEN VERIFIED”
Ergin, who said that an access ban decision was made due to three fund news before his arrest, stated that his news was confirmed and made the following statements:
"I wrote a title incorrectly. When the correct information arrived, I corrected it immediately. However, despite correcting it, I was arrested on the charge of spreading misleading information to the public. This is not a reasonable justification. This social media post is not the reason for my arrest. They are clearly making me pay for the funding news I made."
HE COULD NOT FIND A PLACE IN THE WARD, HE SLEPT ON THE FLOOR FOR TWO NIGHTS
Referring to the physical conditions in the prison, Ergin said that the number of prisoners in the ward exceeded the capacity and the new arrivals had to sleep on the floor until there were empty bunk beds.
Stating that he also stayed on the floor for two nights when he first entered the prison, Ergin said that they were able to move to the bunk beds that were vacated after the evacuations.
Stating that he was satisfied with the cleanliness of the prison, but the food was not in the same condition, Ergin stated that since they could not consume the food, they cooked the ready-made products they bought from the canteen in the samovar.
“YOU SEE THE DESPERATION OF PEOPLE”
Stating that there were people arrested as victims of fraud, fund and IBAN in his ward, Ergin drew attention to the connection between the economic conditions of the people he met.
Explaining the situation of people who had their IBAN used in exchange for money or whose accounts were defrauded and transactions were made through their accounts, Ergin said, "The man was so desperate that he rented his IBAN for 3 kuruş. This is a result of the deep poverty created by the AKP government."
FOLLOWS THE NEWS FROM PRINTED NEWSPAPERS
Stating that the television channels they can watch in prison are limited, Ergin said that they cannot access opposition channels and cannot follow sports events. Noting that they can follow the agenda through printed newspapers, Ergin explained the importance of newspapers in prison with the words: "Printed newspapers are everything for us here."
HE WILL APPEAR IN FRONT OF A JUDGE ON NOVEMBER 18
Fatih Ergin was detained on September 27, on the grounds that he wrote the title of the campus doctor Turgay Tamer incorrectly in the death news, and was arrested on September 28, on the charge of "publicly disseminating misleading information to the public".
Ergin's first hearing, whose indictment has been accepted, is expected to be held on Wednesday, November 18, at 14:00. Emphasizing that he will continue his journalism activities in the message he sent from prison, Ergin said, "They arrested me, but they will not be able to arrest my mind, conscience and pen."
