Released journalist Meşale Tolu to be deported

The hearing continued of the trial in which ETHA News Agency staffers and German citizen Meşale Tolu Çorlu are charged of making the Marxist-Leninist Communist Party (MLKP) terrorist organisation’s propaganda.
 
The hearing heard at Istanbul Serious Crime Court No 29 was attended by the detained defendants Meşale Tolu Çorlu, Birol Kurt, Deniz Havuç, Fırat Çağla, Serkan Okatan, and the defendant detained on another charge, Emre Altunkaya, along with the nine defendants on release pending trial and their counsel. Numbering among the spectators were German researcher and journalist Günter Wallraff, Germany’s Ankara Ambassador Martin Erdmann and German consulate staff. The defendants and their lawyers sought their release as they addressed the hearing.
 
The court bench, announcing its interim ruling, ordered the release of the detained defendants Meşale Tolu Çorlu, Birol Kurt, Deniz Havuç, Fırat Çağla, Serkan Okatan and Emre Altunkaya, taking account of the time they had spent in detention and the unlikelihood of the nature of the offence changing. The court, imposing a ban on traveling abroad on these defendants, ordered them to attend and sign at the nearest police station to their homes one day per week. The court, reminding the defendants that they may be detained if they fail to comply with the release conditions, dismissed the application by the non-detained defendants for a lifting of the ban on leaving the country. The hearing was adjourned until April.
 
Among those monitoring the hearing of German citizen Tolu were German officials including Germany’s Ambassador to Turkey Martin Erdmann, German journalist Günter Wallraff and Left Party MP Heike Hänsel.
 
“MY DETENTION FORMS PART OF THE INTIMIDATION BEING APPLIED TO THE PRESS”
 
Journalist Tolu, saying while mounting her defence that her detention formed part of the intimidation being applied to the press, said, “The emerging of a just decision from the judiciary will appease the public’s conscience.” Tolu concluded her defence by seeking her release and acquittal.
 
Following the defences, the prosecutor called for the release of the six detainees.
 
The court ordered the release of all the defendants in its ruling.
 
FATHER TOLU: I AM THE HAPPIEST PERSON IN THE WORLD
 
For his part, father Ali Rıza Tolu said, “I am the happiest person in the world. I am reuniting with my daughter. If in a short while I collect my daughter, it will be a happier day. I thank the press that has heard our voices.” Tolu, stating that it would not be an issue that his daughter could not go abroad, said, “But, we will without fail apply for the release condition to be lifted.”
 
Released German citizen Meşale Tolu Çorlu left the jail. Çorlu, who was picked up from the jail in a civilian vehicle, was taken to the Migration Administration Directorate for procedures to be completed for her deportation.
 
German Ambassador Martin Erdmann arrived in front of the prison following the release order and waited for Çorlu to emerge. Martin Erdmann, making a statement here, said, “Today is a day for rejoicing. This gives cause for rejoicing along with her husband and family.”
 
The statement made by ETHA read: “Prison government made a statement in connection with Tolu’s release. It commented that, since Meşale Tolu is a German citizen, she must sign at the nearest police station. It stated that Tolun would thus go accompanied by the police to the nearest police station and would be released from the police station after having signed. However, Tolu was virtually kidnapped and placed in a civilian vehicle by counter-terrorism police officers the moment she left the jail. Her family was not told for a long time where Tolu had been taken. Finally, it was learnt that she had been taken to the Foreigners Branch in Kumkapı.”
 
TO BE DEPORTED
 
German citizen Meşale Tolu Çorlu left prison, having been released in the MLKP trial in which she is charged of “membership of a terrorist organisation” and “making organisational propaganda,” Çorlu, who was picked up in a civilian police vehicle with darkened windows at around 19.00 hours, was taken to the Migration Administration Directorate for procedures to be completed for her deportation.
 
MANY FOREIGN JOURNALISTS GATHERED IN FRONT OF THE PRISON
 
Following the release order, her family and relatives also arrived in front of the Bakırköy Women’s Enclosed Penal Institution, where Çorlu was being held. Many foreign journalists waited in front of the prison to capture footage of Meşale Tolu Çorlu's exit.
 
GERMAN AMBASSADOR ALSO CAME
 
Among those awaiting Çorlu's exit from the prison was German Ambassador Martin Erdmann. Martin Erdmann, who arrived in front of the jail in an official car of the German Consulate, said in a statement he made here to DHA that they were monitoring the trial in which Meşale Tolu Çorlu was being prosecuted.
 
AMBASSADOR: TODAY IS A DAY FOR REJOICING
 
Erdmann, describing Çorlu's release with the remark “Today is a day of rejoicing,” commented, “We have been here for several months representing the German government. We are monitoring the trial. Today, the second hearing day took place. And I came here to greet her after the release order was passed. Release has been ordered, but under a release condition and a ban on traveling abroad has been imposed. But, today, she has been released. Today is a day for rejoicing. This gives cause for rejoicing along with her husband and family.”