DFG: 86 journalists are behind bars in Turkey
In Turkey, 27 journalists were detained and five journalists were sent to prison in April, according to the 2023 April report on the rights violations against journalists released by the Dicle Fırat Journalists Association (DFG).
News Center- The Dicle Fırat Journalists Association (DFG) has released its 2023 April report on the rights violations against journalists.
The report pointed out that all opposition groups, including journalists, lawyers, artists and political activists have been subjected to pre-election crackdown. “According to not only our regional report but also the reports of many international journalists’ organizations show that press freedom in Turkey has been steadily declining. The only way to prevent this decline is to stop detaining, arresting and censoring journalists, to open up spaces for opposition on social media platforms,” the report said.
5 journalists sent to prison in April
10 journalists were taken into custody on April 25, 2023 as part of an investigation launched in Diyarbakır. The names of the journalists detained on April 25 are: Mesopotamia Agency (MA) editor Abdurrahman Gök; MA reporters Ahmet Kanba and Mehmet Şah Oruç; Osman Akın, editor-in-chief of the Yeni Yaşam Newspaper; Kadri Esen, publisher of the Kurdish weekly newspaper Xwebûn; Jinnews reporter Beritan Canözer; journalists Mehmet Yalçın, Mehmet Şah Oruç, Mikail Barut, Salih Keleş and Remzi Akkaya. Journalists Beritan Canözer, Mehmet Şah Oruç, Abdurrahman Gök, Mikail Barut and Remzi Akkaya were sent to prison on charges of “Being a member of a terrorist organization”.
On April 29, many people, including Mesopotamia Agency (MA) editor Sedat Yılmaz and Dicle Fırat Journalists’ Association Co-chair Dicle Müftüoğlu, were detained as part of an investigation launched in Ankara. The journalists were sent to prison on May 3, the World Press Freedom Day.
The report said that journalists protesting the detention of their colleagues were battered by police.
The report also listed the rights violations committed against journalists in April. The rights violations against journalists in April are:
Four journalists were attacked.
Police raided the houses of 13 journalists.
27 journalists were detained.
Five journalists were sent to prison.
Two journalists were subjected to ill-treatment.
Two journalists were threatened.
10 journalists were prevented from covering.
One journalist was subjected to rights violations in prison.
Two journalists got prison sentences.
Total prison sentence given to journalists is three years, four months and 17 days.
86 journalists are currently behind bars in Turkey.