Hatice Duman


Hatice Duman is a Kurdish journalist and editor-in-chief of the daily Atılım, the official newspaper of the Marxist–Leninist Communist Party in Turkey. Since April 9, 2003, she is kept in prison in Gebze and is accused of being a manager of a terrorist organization. In October 16, 2012, Turkey’s Supreme Court of Appeals ratified the life-time imprisonment sentence against her.

Early years

Hatice Duman was born in the eastern province of Malatya on April 5, 1974. Her family had moved to of Antep due to economic reasons. She finished elementary and middle school in Antep. She graduated from Trakya University's Vocational School of Higher Education in 1996.

Journalistic career

She began working as a reporter for Atılım in 1996 and in 1997 she started working at the chief editor's desk for the same newspaper.

Arrest and legal grounds

The police raided her house on April 9, 2002 at around 4 pm. They depicted Hatice Duman as "the other female" they were searching for in relation with two robberies. She has been condemned in accordance with article 168/1 of the Turkish Penal Code in connection with allegations of being a manager of a terrorist organization.

Defense position

According to the detained journalist, "the state employed all its violence and repression to prevent us from perceiving, seeing and writing the truth. All the issues we published were confiscated, and we were prevented from following the news. Our cameras and recorders were broken. They seized our computers. They filed suits against the confiscated issues of our newspaper.