The trial of seven journalists sued by the Turkish war criminal commander Musa Çitil ended on Wednesday before a Turkish court in the Northern Kurdistan province of Amed (Diyarbakir). The accused were Ömer Çelik, A. Vahap Taş, Çağdaş Kaplan, Selman Çiçek, Hamza Gündüz, İnan Kızılkaya, Kemal Sancılı and activist Selim Gönenç, who were accused of "naming actors in the fight against terror" in connection with a report in the social media about the military siege in Sur, the old town of Amed.

Specifically, the prosecution's indictment of the journalists concerned the report entitled "The siege bears the name 'Flag 12', the man at its head is Musa Çitil". The report was first published by DIHA (Dicle News Agency), which was banned by an emergency decree, and later by the likewise banned daily Özgür Gündem, and named Musa Çitil, the then commander of Gendarmerie in Amed, as responsible for the operation in the old town of Amed.

Çitil, meanwhile promoted to deputy commander-in-chief of the Turkish gendarmerie (military police), appeared as a joint plaintiff in the proceedings. The public prosecutor's office had demanded one to three years imprisonment for the journalists who have been acquitted by the today.

Destruction of Sur continues

In November 2015 the destruction of Sur began with the proclamation of a curfew. The old town of Amed, which has five thousand years of history and was under the protection of UNESCO, had recently proclaimed self-government. For about three and a half months, the residents resisted a barbaric concept of attack by the Turkish state. But the destruction continues to this day.

At the head of the military siege of Sur stood Musa Çitil, whose name has been in the public eye since the 1990s with massacres, torture and rape. He has repeatedly been accused of having raped, tortured or killed Kurds whom he took into custody. The Turkish judiciary always acquitted and promoted him.

Musa Çitil: War criminal, rapist, murderer

In Derik district of Mardin province, Çitil - at that time still as regional commander for the Amed region - was responsible for the execution of 13 civilians in 1993 and 1994. Also in 1993, he reportedly raped the then 16-year-old Şükran Aydın, who was arrested on 29 June after a raid on her village Taşkın. In November of the same year, a young girl named H.E. was taken into custody in Derik. After her release, she went abroad and did not talk about her experiences for years. When she could no longer bear her silence, she went to prominent lawyer Eren Keskin and reported several rapes in custody. Eren Keskin, who is now co-chair of the Human Rights Association IHD, brought 405 soldiers to trial for rape. One of these soldiers is Musa Çitil. But even in this trial, the Turkish judiciary acquitted him.

Turkey sentenced by ECHR for Musa Çitil

At the beginning of 1993 Salih Tekin, who at that time worked as a correspondent for Özgür Gündem, was taken into custody in Derik. He was tortured at the police station. According to his statements, Musa Çitil threatened him with death if he visited the region again. Salih Tekin filed a complaint and an investigation was initiated. Two years later, however, the file was closed. Tekin then lodged a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) which then sentenced Turkey in 1997, announcing a violation of the articles 3 and 13 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

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