Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of December 2
Journalists in court A Diyarbakır Court on December 5 ordered Rojhat Doğru, a journalist formerly with the northern Iraq outlet Gali Kurdistan TV, to be detained pending investigation, the pro-Kurdish Mezopotamya Agency reported. According to the report, Doğru was taken into custody in Istanbul on the accusation of “being a member of a [terrorist] organization,”…
Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week beginning November 25, 2018
Court upholds Özgür Gündem sentences A local appeals court in Istanbul on November 29 upheld the earlier prison sentences handed to five of the participants of a solidarity campaign with the daily Özgür Gündem, the pro-Kurdish Mezopotamya Agency reported.
Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of November 8, 2018
Court sentences former Zaman journalist A court in Uşak on November 14 convicted Ali Ünal, a former columnist for the shuttered daily Zaman, of “founding and leading an armed terrorist organization” and sentenced him to 19 years and six months in prison, the news website Diken reported. The court acquitted the journalist of coup-related charges,…
Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of November 1, 2018
Journalists in court An Istanbul court on November 5 convicted Yasir Kaya, a sports journalist formerly with Fenerbahçe TV or FBTV, of “being a member of a [terrorist] organization” and sentenced him to six years and three months in prison, according to reports. Kaya remained free pending appeal, according to the report. CPJ previously documented…
Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of October 26, 2018
Journalist freed pending trial An Istanbul court on October 31, ordered Ali Sönmez Kayar, a reporter for the socialist Etkin News Agency (ETHA), to be freed pending trial, the independent news website Bianet reported. Kayar, who is charged with “being a member of a [terrorist] organization,” was released under judicial control and is under a…
The path(s) to justice in Jamal Khashoggi’s murder
In an emotional address to Turkey’s parliament today, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan described the murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi as a savage and premeditated act and demanded that Saudi officials be brought to Turkey to stand trial. Most of the information about the investigation that has emerged has come through leaks to the Turkish…
Efforts to find mastermind in murder of Malta journalist Caruana Galizia stalled
Journalists don’t typically get murdered in Western European democracies that are members of the European Union. Which is why the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia in Malta last year was so shocking, and the lack of progress on finding the mastermind so disturbing.
Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of October 11
Journalists in court An Istanbul court on October 16 asked Interpol to issue a “red notice” warrant for the exiled journalists Can Dündar and İlhan Tanır, according to reports. Dündar and Tanır were defendants in the trial against the opposition daily Cumhuriyet, until their cases were separated from the main trial on April 25, when…
Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of October 4, 2018
Journalist sentenced to over 7 years in jail A court in the eastern Muş city on October 10 sentenced Seda Taşkın, a reporter for the pro-Kurdish Mezopotamya News Agency (MA), to a total of seven years and six months in prison, her employer reported. Taşkın attended the hearing via teleconference from the Sincan Women’s Prison,…