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Lebanese columnist, Hezbollah critic Lokman Slim shot and killed

New York, February 4, 2021 – Lebanese authorities must conduct a thorough investigation into the killing of political commentator Lokman Slim, determine if he was targeted for his journalism, and hold those responsible to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Yesterday evening, at about 8:30 p.m., Slim went missing after leaving the home…

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People read papers by the Bosporus in Istanbul in April 2019. A journalist this week started a prison sentence for insulting Turkey's president in a speech. (AP/Emrah Gurel)

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of June 9, 2019

Journalist in jail for insulting presidentOn June 13, Yavuz Selim Demirağ, a columnist for the nationalist daily Yeni Çağ, started an 11-month and 20-day prison sentence for “insulting the president,” according to his column published the same day. The column featured an update from the newspaper that said that the journalist had turned himself and…

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Supporters of the HDP party gather for an election rally in Batman, on March 12. On June 1, a court in the Turkish city handed down a prison sentence for a journalist who died in October. (AFP/Ilyas Akengin)

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of June 2, 2019

German journalist accused of insulting president A prosecutor in Ankara has started an investigation into German journalist Süheyla Kaplan who is accused of “insulting” President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and terrorism propaganda, Deutsche Welle reported. Evidence cited against the journalist includes a political cartoon of the Turkey’s president that she shared on Twitter, social media post…

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A man holds a sign reading 'Writers' freedom is not guaranteed' outside an Istanbul court during a trial connected to the now shuttered paper Özgür Gündem, in December 2016. A court sentenced seven former journalists from the paper to prison on May 21, 2019. (AFP/Ozan Kose)

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of May 19, 2019

7 journalists sentenced in Özgür Gündem trial An Istanbul Court on May 21 sentenced seven journalists from the shuttered pro-Kurdish daily Özgür Gündem to prison after they were convicted of “making propaganda for a [terrorist] organization,” the Mezopotamya News Agency reported.

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Cumhuriyet cartoonist Musa Kart, center, and colleagues stand outside an Istanbul courthouse in March 2018. A court in April convicted Kart and several of his colleagues of aiding a terrorist organization. (AFP/Ozan Lose)

Turkey convicts Cumhuriyet journalists on terrorism charges

Istanbul, April 25, 2018–An Istanbul court today convicted 14 people affiliated with the independent daily Cumhuriyet of aiding terrorist organizations and sentenced them to jail terms ranging between three and seven years, the newspaper reported. The court placed the journalists on probation and banned them from traveling until the appeals process has ended, according to…

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A poster in Jeddah depicts Saudi Arabia's King and Crown Prince. A Saudi court has jailed a journalist for five years for insulting the royal court. (Reuters/Reem Baeshen)

Saudi journalist jailed for five years for insulting royal court

New York, February 8, 2018–A specialized criminal court in Saudi Arabia sentenced al-Watan columnist Saleh al-Shehi to five years in prison for “insulting the royal court,” and imposed a five-year travel ban that will go into effect on his release, according to a report published today in the privately-owned Saudi newspaper Okaz. Saudi security forces…

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