In the second quarter of 2024, 192 journalists stood trial in 101 court cases. In 24 cases that concluded, 17 journalists were acquitted while 12 journalists were sentenced. Seven new cases were filed against nine journalists; five journalists were jailed

The 10th of our Freedom of Expression and the Press Agenda quarterly reports has been published. Aimed at presenting an overview of the media freedom and freedom of expression environment in Turkey, our reports are based on data compiled through our trial monitoring work and research of open sources of information. The latest edition covers the months of April, May and June 2024.

The full text of the report is available here.

In this three-month period, at least 192 journalists stood trial in 101 separate cases heard by courts of first instance. Twenty-four of these cases were concluded. In cases that concluded, 17 journalists were acquitted while 12 journalists were sentenced. Eight journalists were sentenced to a total of 25 years, 6 months and 15 days of imprisonment and five journalists were ordered to pay a total of 62,500 TL in non-pecuniary damages.

One journalist tried in 11 court cases

In this period, courts of first instance held the first hearing in at least 10 newly filed cases against journalists. Among these was the case filed against Furkan Karabay on the charge of “targeting public officials who took part in the fight against terrorism,” as part of which the journalist was arrested in December 2023 and released after spending 10 days in prison over an article he wrote. Karabay, possibly facing more court cases than any other journalist in Turkey currently, appeared in courts for 10 more trials during the reporting period: He was sentenced in two of them and acquitted in one.

Journalists mostly faced “propaganda” and “insult” charges

Journalists on trial during this period mostly faced “terrorism propaganda,” “insult” and “membership in a terrorist organization” charges. The most common charge was “terrorism propaganda” under Article 7/2 of the Anti-Terror Law (TMK), which was used in 25 separate cases. The second was “insult” under Article 125 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK), which was used in 23 separate cases. The third was “membership in a terrorist organization” (TCK 314/2), which was used in 22 separate cases. During this period, journalists were charged with “insulting the president” (TCK 299) in nine separate cases.

Journalism under threats and violence

Immediately after the 31 March local elections, a decision by the Van Provincial Electoral Board to revoke the mandate of Abdullah Zeydan of DEM Party and give the post to AKP candidate Abdulahat Arvas sparked protests in numerous cities across Turkey and many journalists covering the protests were subjected to police interventions, detentions and threats. However, threats and violent police interventions against journalists were not limited to the time of the Van protests. Throughout the months of April, May and June, at least 34 incidents of attacks, threats, violent police interventions and online abuse targeting journalists were recorded.

During the reporting period, at least seven cases involving journalists as complainants were also heard. Two of these cases were concluded with the courts sentencing the defendants who carried out physical attacks against two journalists. However, in another case that got underway in Bursa during this period, the court ruled to release both defendants who were jailed over an armed assault against a journalist.

5 journalists arrested, 28 journalists in prison

The downward trend in the number of jailed journalists observed throughout 2023 was interrupted by new arrests in this period. Five journalists were sent to prison during the second quarter of the year, bringing the number of imprisoned journalists to 33. Again, during the same period, six journalists were released, bringing the number to 28 by the end of June.

During this period journalists continued facing new court cases and lawsuits over their reporting, the books they wrote, interviews they participated in or their social media posts: Seven new cases were filed against a total of nine journalists and columnists.

Court of Cassation issues first judgment on “disinformation” law

In what can be described as a positive development regarding press freedom during the period covered by the report, the Court of Cassation overturned the sentence given to Sinan Aygül, the first journalist to be sentenced for “publicly disseminating misleading information” under Article 217/A, which was added to the Turkish Penal Code in 2022. The Court held in its judgment that Aygül, who exercised his right to report as a journalist, should have been acquitted. This was the first judgment the high court delivered on the “disinformation” law. However, during the reporting period, journalists continued to be prosecuted on this charge and were subjected to new court cases and investigations.

Local newspapers hit by austerity measures

In the second quarter of the year, journalists, especially in local media, continued to struggle with economic difficulties in addition to judicial pressure, police violence and threats. In this period, a total of nine newspapers in three provinces stopped printing as of 31 May 2024 due to the ban on newspaper purchases and subscriptions imposed on public institutions as part of a Presidential circular published in the Official Gazette.

RTÜK fines broadcasters 15 million TL

The Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) and the Press Advertisement Agency (BİK) continued to serve as tools of political pressure on pro-opposition media outlets in the second quarter of the year. RTÜK imposed administrative fines totaling 15,640,682 TL on broadcasters Now TV, Tele 1 and Açık Radyo in this period, citing on-air expressions used by presenters or program guests. Açık Radyo was additionally imposed a five-time program suspension penalty by RTÜK on the grounds that a program guest used the phrase “Armenian genocide commemoration” during the 24 April 2024 episode of the program “Açık Gazete.”

Penalties imposed by BİK on Evrensel newspaper, whose right to publish public advertisements and announcements was permanently revoked in 2022, and Yeni Asya newspaper, which has been under a public ad embargo since 2020, were still in effect by the end of the second quarter of the year.