DIHA (Dicle News Agency) reporter Çağdaş Kaplan, who had been in detention since the so-called Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) operation in December 2011, was released on Friday following the 3rd hearing of the case against workers of the Kurdish press.

Speaking to ANF after his release, Kaplan said the released journalists would continue to do their job and never take steps backward in the face of repression. Kaplan pointed out that there could be no mention of freedom unless all jailed journalists are released.

"Neither our arrest nor release was practiced in a legal framework. All accusations against the journalists on trial consist of journalistic works, while all 'evidences' are made up of slanders, which is why we called the bill of indictment as the 'bill of slander'. The government doesn't want journalism in Turkey to be performed as it should be, and this is the reason why the requirements and task fields of our profession are regarded as 'elements and scenes of a crime', said Kaplan.

Journalist Kaplan remarked that they didn't see their release as "freedom", and added; "Some of us were released yesterday but our collegues are still in prison, despite the fact that we all did the same work, reported same news and discussed same issues. This why we don't accept the continuation of their arrest while some others among us are being released. Even this matter itself, the release of some and detention of others, shows that the court decisions aren't made on a legal ground".

We have no regrets -Kaplan added- and we will continue to write more determinedly than ever, laying more stress on the problems of the Kurdish people and the oppressed.