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.

Journalist Sedef Kabaş handed jail term for "spreading false information"

An İstanbul court has sentenced Kabaş to 10 months in prison over her post about Central Bank Chairman Fatih Karahan, and deferred the sentence

Appellate court upholds prison sentence handed to seven journalists

The journalists' lawyers have stated that they would appeal to the Court of Cassation and that they had prepared their defense

ANALYSIS | Will the Constitutional Court’s annulment ruling halt BİK’s punitive power?

Doubts persist over whether Parliament will introduce the kind of legal reform urged by the Constitutional Court to safeguard freedom of the press and expression

Trial of 8 journalists who covered the Saraçhane protest gets underway

The court, which immediately has rejected the requests for acquittal, ruled that the case file be sent to the prosecutor for the preparation of the final opinion

Journalist Nevşin Mengü acquitted

The court has decided to acquit Mengü, stating that “the legal elements of the crime were not present” in the statements made in two videos published on her YouTube channel

Journalist Ercüment Akdeniz released pending verdict

Journalist Ercüment Akdeniz was jailed in February as part of the HDK investigation. Akdeniz was released 247 days later with a ban on leaving the country

Three journalists sentenced for insulting Akın Gürlek in BirGün case

The court has sentenced İbrahim Aydın to 11 months and 20 days for “insult,” ordered Yaşar Gökdemir and Uğur Koç to pay fine of TL 34,500

T24 reporter Asuman Aranca sentenced to 10 months in prison over report on "Sinan Ateş murder"

The court has sentenced Aranca to 10 years in prison for “violating the confidentiality of the investigation,” and deferred the sentence

ANALYSIS | RTÜK: From regulatory body to censorship authority

RTÜK has a decisive influence on the public's right to information. Its founding purpose of “ensuring freedom of broadcasting” seems to have been replaced by a regulatory approach

Trial of Ahmet Kanbal for "disinformation" gets underway

The court has accepted Kanbal's request to defend himself in Mardin and postponed the trial until 3 November 2025

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