Police forces conducted house raids in Mardin province and the districts of Nusaybin and Kızıltepe early this morning and detained 5 people, including journalist Öznur Değer. Those detained were subjected to mistreatment and torture during the raids.

According to the women's news agency JinNews, for which Değer works, the police broke down the apartment door and dragged the journalist out onto the street, using force, while her apartment was searched and equipment was confiscated. Değer was then put in a police vehicle with her hands tied behind her back and taken to the police station in Mardin.

During the questioning at the police station, Öznur Değer demanded that the torture she was subjected to be recorded in the minutes. When her demand was rejected, she exercised her right to remain silent and refused to sign the report.

Citing her social media posts, the journalist was charged with content related to journalists Cihan Bilgin and Nazım Daşdan, who were killed in a Turkish drone attack in northern Syria in December 2024,

While the other four detainees were released, two of them on judicial control conditions, Öznur Değer was referred to the Criminal Judicature of Peace by the prosecutor's office with a request for her imprisonment.

The journalist was remanded in custody after her interrogation by the judge. While being taken out of the courtroom, she chanted “Free press cannot be silenced” and her mouth was covered by the police. 

The journalist was then sent to prison.

This is not the first time that Öznur Değer has been targeted by the Turkish police and judiciary. She has already been arrested and imprisoned several times and is currently facing multiple charges. The most recent investigation against Değer began in December when she was accused of insulting an official in Mardin. She called a Turkish police officer a fascist after he made sexist comments and she described his comments as obscene. In a court case in Ankara, the JinNews reporter was convicted last July of alleged PKK support.