Expression Interrupted

Journalists and academics bear the brunt of the massive crackdown on freedom of expression in Turkey. Scores of them are currently subject to criminal investigations or behind bars. This website is dedicated to tracking the legal process against them.

Freedom of Expression and the Press in Turkey - 334

Courts sentence journalists Berivan Altan and Durket Süren on “terror” charges; merged Gezi and Çarşı retrials separated; writer Gökhan Yavuzel charged with “insulting the president” in new indictment

Court separates merged Gezi and Çarşı retrials

Ruling for the continuation of Osman Kavala’s detention, court sets 21 March 2022 as the date for the next hearing of the Gezi trial

Freedom of Expression and the Press in Turkey - 333

Journalist Güngör Arslan murdered; Vildan Atmaca's detention period extended; prosecution appeals against acquittal of four journalists in “RedHack case”; RTÜK suspends Ayşenur Arslan’s Halk TV show

Court separates file against Atilla Taş

The retrial of journalists Ahmet Memiş, Ali Akkuş, Cemal Azmi Kalyoncu, Gökçe Fırat Çulhaoğlu, Ünal Tanık, Yakup Çetin and Yetkin Yıldız will continue in June

ANALYSIS | An assessment of the European Court's Deniz Yücel judgment

The insistence on refusing to find violations under articles other than the right to liberty and security and freedom of expression suppresses the real purpose behind the pressures on journalists

Journalist Gökhan Biçici acquitted

Biçici was on trial for allegedly “insulting the president” in a report about a statement by the hacker group Anonymous, published on the news portal in June 2020

Barış Pehlivan, Murat Ağırel and Hülya Kılınç briefly return to prison

Sentences given to five journalists over news coverage and social media posts about a Turkish intelligence officer killed in Libya were upheld by a regional court of appeals on 28 January

Journalist Caner Taşpınar acquitted

Taşpınar, an editor for Odatv news portal, was charged with “insult” for his book published in 2020

Freedom of Expression and the Press in Turkey - 332

Sedef Kabaş faces two “insult” charges; Selda Manduz sentenced for “propaganda”; Deniz Yücel fined for “insult”; RTÜK says VoA, DW, Euronews should apply for broadcasting licenses

Novelist, former Özgür Gündem columnist Aslı Erdoğan acquitted

The retrial was ordered by an appellate court, which reversed the trial court’s decision to drop the “propaganda” charge against Erdoğan in the “Özgür Gündem main trial”

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