Murat Sabuncu Archives - Committee to Protect Journalists

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of May 5, 2019

May 9, 2019 5:48 PM EDT

Journalist sentenced to 10 months in prison An Istanbul court on May 7 sentenced Cansu Pişkin, a reporter for the leftist daily Evrensel, to 10 months in prison for “making a target of a civil servant for terrorist organizations,” the television news website Medyascope reported. The court suspended Pişkin’s sentence barring a repeated offense in…

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

April 25, 2018 5:32 PM EDT

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…

Turkey's Supreme Court has ruled that Cumhuriyet journalist Can Dündar, pictured in Postdam in 2017, should face a retrial on espionage charges. (AFP/Steffi Loos)

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of March 15, 2018

March 15, 2018 2:09 PM EDT

Supreme Court says Can Dündar should face retrial Turkey’s Supreme Court of Appeals on March 9 ruled that Can Dündar, former chief editor of the daily, Cumhuriyet, and Erdem Gül, the paper’s Ankara representative, should face a retrial on charges of “obtaining secret information with means of espionage,” Euronews reported.

Demonstrators hold placards and copies of the Cumhuriyet daily newspaper as they stage a protest outside a court where the trial of about a dozen employees of the newspaper on charges of aiding terror groups, continues in Istanbul, Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2017. Most of them were released from prison earlier this month, but four of them, including editor-in-chief Murat Sabuncu and investigative journalist Ahmet Sik, are still in prison.(AP/Lefteris Pitarakis)

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of October 26, 2017

November 2, 2017 1:35 PM EDT

Journalists detained: Turkish police on November 1 briefly detained technology journalist Serdar Kuzuloğlu in Istanbul, the daily Hürriyet reported.

Protesters in Silivri, Turkey demonstrate in support of journalists and staff from the Cumhuriyet newspaper who Turkish officials have accused of aiding terror organizations. Their trial is part of a larger media crackdown under President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of September 10, 2017

September 11, 2017 11:21 AM EDT

Court orders four Cumhuriyet managers and journalists to remain in custody for trial A Turkish court remanded four members of the Cumhuriyet newspaper yesterday who are on trial for terrorism-related charges, according to reports from their employer and Reuters.

Journalists and press freedom advocates read Cumhuriyet newspaper at a protest demanding the release of 17 employees and directors of the newspaper outside their trial in Istanbul, July 28, 2017. (Reuters/Murad Sezer)

Seven Cumhuriyet journalists and managers released pending trial

July 28, 2017 3:45 PM EDT

New York, July 28, 2017–Turkish authorities should immediately and unconditionally release all employees and directors of the daily newspaper Cumhuriyet, and all journalists jailed for their work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. A court in Istanbul today ordered seven Cumhuriyet employees and managers released pending the conclusion of their trial, according to press…

Journalists and press-freedom advocates release balloons outside the Istanbul courthouse where 17 employees and board members of the newspaper Cumhuriyet went on trial, July 24, 2017. (Reuters/Murad Sezer)

Trial of 17 Cumhuriyet newspaper employees begins in Turkey

July 24, 2017 1:44 PM EDT

New York, July 24, 2017–The trial of 17 journalists, managers, and board members of the pro-opposition daily newspaper Cumhuriyet on terrorism-related charges is a further blow to press freedom in Turkey, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Security forces stand guard atop a building in Istanbul as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan gives a speech in favor of amendments to the constitution that would increase his powers, March 26, 2017. (Reuters/Murad Sezer)

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of April 2, 2017

April 3, 2017 10:59 AM EDT

Cumhuriyet journalists respond to indictment Cumhuriyet journalists Kadri Gürsel and Murat Sabuncu, who were listed in an indictment against the Turkish daily earlier this week, reacted to the accusations presented to the court, online newspaper Demokrat Haber and Cumhuriyet reported yesterday.

Supporters of Cumhuriyet newspaper protest police's October 31, 2016, raid of the newspaper's office in Istanbul. (Reuters/Murad Sezer)

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of November 6

November 7, 2016 1:05 PM EST

Opposition newspaper CEO detained Police at Istanbul’s Atatürk airport detained Akın Atalay, CEO of the embattled opposition newspaper Cumhuriyet, as he disembarked from his flight from Berlin today, Turkey’s official Anadolu News Agency reported. The Istanbul Chief Prosecutor’s Office for Press Crimes had issued a warrant for his arrest in the scope of authorities’ investigation…

Supporters of Cumhuriyet newspaper protest a police raid of the daily's Istanbul's office, October 31, 2016. The signs read, "Free media cannot be silenced" (center), and "Don't bow down" (rear). (Reuters/Murad Sezer)

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of October 30

October 31, 2016 11:28 AM EDT

Social media websites, WhatsApp blocked as police detain opposition leaders Turkey last night blocked access to social media websites and the text-messaging application WhatsApp as police arrested members of parliament for the opposition HDP party, including the party’s co-chairs, Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yuksekdag, according to press reports.