turkey crackdown chronicle

CPJ’s recent press freedom mission in Turkey got off to a disappointing start. International organizations led by the International Press Institute, and including Reporters Without Borders, Human Rights Watch, and Osservatorio Balcani Caucaso Transeuropa, a think tank focused on seven European countries, gathered in Ankara and Istanbul to discuss our concerns about possible updates to…

Istanbul, February 16, 2020 – Turkish authorities should cease prosecuting former staffers of the shuttered Özgür Gündem newspaper and not contest their appeals, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Yesterday, the 23rd Istanbul Court of Serious Crimes convicted three former editors and the former publisher of pro-Kurdish daily Özgür Gündem on terrorism charges, and…

Istanbul, February 1, 2021 – Turkish authorities should immediately drop all charges against the journalists and press freedom advocates currently facing a second trial on trumped-up terrorism charges, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On February 3, the Thirteenth Istanbul Court of Serious Crimes is scheduled to begin hearings in the retrial of Erol…

Istanbul, August 31, 2020 – Turkish authorities should drop all charges against journalists Rawin Sterk and Selman Keleş, release Sterk from prison, and cease filing bogus terrorism charges against the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On September 2, the 34th Istanbul Court of Serious Crimes, in Çağlayan, is scheduled to begin proceedings…

Istanbul, June 17, 2020 – Turkish authorities should cease trying to censor the Ozguruz radio station’s website, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Yesterday, a Turkish court issued an order blocking the broadcaster’s website at the request of the Radio and Television Supreme Council, the country’s media regulator, according to news reports. The council…

Turkey is notorious as a leading jailer of journalists worldwide, a fact that can overshadow the other problems for its press. Alongside the risk of arrest, journalists must contend with daily interference. From police denying reporters access to courtrooms, arbitrarily moving them on or forcing them to leave certain areas when they are reporting on…

Venezuela’s political crisis continues to unfold, and the country’s press crackdown intensified over the past week. On Monday, a Univision news crew headed by reporter and anchor Jorge Ramos was detained for over two hours at the presidential palace in Caracas because Nicolás Maduro allegedly did not like the questions asked by Ramos. The crew’s…

Freelancer Mohamed Ben Khalifa was killed during clashes south of Tripoli, Libya, on Saturday. Mexican reporter Rafael Murúa Manríquez was found killed in Baja California Sur on Sunday despite being enrolled in a federal protection program for human rights defenders and journalists. On Monday, Sudanese authorities revoked the credentials of at least six journalists working…

On Monday, Gabon’s government shut down the nation’s internet and broadcasting services following an attempted coup against President Ali Bongo Ondimba. Sudan detained several critical columnists amid protests. In Canada, police blocked media from covering the breakup of an anti-pipeline protest led by indigenous activists. Global press freedom updates Mozambican police arrested a radio journalist…

Vietnamese blogger and 2018 International Press Freedom Awardee Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, known by her pen name “Mother Mushroom,” was released from prison on Wednesday. And CPJ joined partner organizations at the United Nations Thursday in urging Turkey to ask U.N. Secretary General António Guterres to establish an investigation into the possible extrajudicial execution of…