Sarya Gözüoğlu/JINHA

AMED – Dutch journalist Frederike Geerdink, recently acquitted from charges that her work constituted PKK "propaganda," says that the trial against her may have been an inconvenience, but that she will not let it affect her work as a journalist.

Police first arrested Frederike from her home on January 6, taking her to the police station for questioning for several hours. Shortly thereafter, Diyarbakır courts then filed charges against Frederike, charging her with "propaganda" based primarily on an article she published in 2009 on Turkey's news website Diken, in which she interviewed Cemil Bayık of the KCK (a PKK body).

Frederike said she was expecting an acquittal, but that for her to be tried at all was unethical. She noted that she was never afraid, but that the trial was primarily an inconvenience that drained her time and prevented her from working as a journalist.

"I'm happy about the acquittal, but from the beginning, there shouldn't have been such a trial," she said. "Now I can continue working. I'm happy about this, because working and making news is what makes me happy."

Frederike noted that although Turkey did not have press freedom before the reign of the AKP and President Erdoğan, the situation has recently been getting worse and threatens to return to the state of danger for journalists present in the country ten years ago. She notes that the trial, even if it was intended to intimidate her, has not affected her approach to journalism.

"I always think before I write," she said. "I share my views, but I don't shout them. I write my thoughts, and I produce good work. I'll keep working in this way."

(sg-şh/fk/cm)