An investigation was launched against Hale Gönültaş, a columnist for Kısa Dalga, who reported on an incident where a 14-year-old girl, who had been sexually abused in Manisa, was made to work in honkytonks despite being under state protection.
The investigation was launched after a police officer who had not been named in the news report and argued that the news attempted to wear out the state institutions filed a criminal complaint against not only Gönültaş but also the mother of the girl who voiced the allegations and the officials of the Women’s Association Federation of Turkey, which helped out the mother.
Coming to the house of journalist Gönültaş in the evening of the day when she was summoned to depose, two police officers tried to intimidate her by saying, “You have apparently libeled our fellow police officer” (January 25).