Mehmet Ugur: We will eventually see an erosion of the authoritarian, nationalist and fascist elements in Turkey

05 Jun 19 | Academic Freedom, News and features, Scholar at Risk, Turkey

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Academics for Peace unites 2,237 people supporting peace in Turkey’s mostly Kurdish-populated south-eastern provinces. Many are among the 1,128 signatories of a 2016 petition — We Will Not Be a Party To This Crime — calling for an end to violence in the region. The petition condemned state violence against the Kurds and Turkey’s violation of its own laws and international treaties.

As of 29 May 2019, 724 members of Academics for Peace are on trial and facing imprisonment. So far, 180 sentences – ranging from between 15 and 36 months – have been handed down.

One of the signatories of the petition, professor Füsun Üstel, began her 15-month jail term on 8 May 2019. She is the first of the signatories to begin her sentence.

In April, professor Tuna Altınel of Claude Bernard University in Lyon had his passport confiscated when he returned to Turkey for the Easter holidays. On 11 May, he was detained when he went to the police station to inquire about his passport. He remains in custody on charges relating to a conference he organised in Lyon on 21 February 2019 in solidarity with the Kurds.

Mehmet Ugur, a member of Academics for Peace and professor of economics and Institutions at University of Greenwich, spoke with Index on Censorship about the current situation for Turkish academics. 

 

Jessica Ní Mhainín: Professor Füsun Üstel began her sentence on 8 May. How has this affected the members of Academics for Peace and particularly the signatories of the petition?

Mehmet Ugur: The Academics for Peace were very disappointed with the decision to imprison Fusun Ustel, although it wasn’t totally unexpected since the AFP trials have so far demonstrated that the courts are following strict directions from the government. Fusun Ustel is a highly respected professor of law, whose democratic credentials are as good as her academic ones. Her imprisonment created anger among the AFP community and beyond. The recent social media campaign has focused on efforts to free her, or to at least transfer her to an open prison [where there would be less restrictions on her movements and activities]. So on one hand, AFP have reacted with disappointment and anger, but on the other hand they have shown that they are resilient.

Ní Mhainín: In 2016, you wrote that the international scholarly community should “take practical, meaningful steps to express their solidarity with Academics for Peace and their commitment to academic freedom more broadly”. Do you think that academics in Europe have been supporting their Turkish colleagues?

Ugur: I am very proud to be part of an international academic community that has shown incredible support for AFP. When we asked for signatures, thousands of academics signed. When we asked for condemnation, many wrote individual letters. Some went the extra mile by helping those academics who managed to leave Turkey (before their passports were confiscated) by mentoring them and providing them with research fellowships. We are so grateful for that.

But we have also observed that the academic community could do more given the dangers posed by the violation of academic freedom in Turkey. The resilience of the global higher education system against political interventions is at stake. Some European institutions have been partnering with the Council of Higher Education (YÖK) or the Scientific and Technological Research Council (Tübi̇tak), despite the fact that these institutions have been directly complicit in the violation of academic freedom in Turkey. Incentivised by the Turkish government’s funding, some organisations and institutions continue to hold conferences and strike quick-return partnerships with universities that were complicit in the violation of academic freedom.

The academic community is not a uniform body; there are different views and tendencies. Still, I would urge my peers to think twice before accepting offers from complicit Turkish universities or higher education funding bodies. We need to be concerned about the resilience of global higher education system against populist, authoritarian, and managerialist threat – in Turkey and beyond.

Ní Mhainín: You have decided to not return to Turkey, at least for the foreseeable future. How have you come to this decision?

Ugur: I have made a decision not to return to Turkey because of legal uncertainties brought about by the Turkish courts’ reliance on flimsy evidence to arrest and imprison people. I was imprisoned in Turkey in the early 1980s after the military coup. The conditions were very harsh but we knew what charges we would face and what sentence we would get. The Justice and Development Party (AKP)’s regime is so unpredictable – and it is aided by the pro-government media (95% of the media outlets in Turkey), by an army of trolls who act both as informers and secret witnesses, and above all, by a compliant judiciary, who are driven by both career incentives and ideological enmity against progressive politics. This is why I feel that it would be unsafe to go to Turkey.

Having said that, many of my colleagues who are signatories to the peace petition are going to Turkey. Some are returning safe but some of them, as we know from the case of Tuna Altınel, are not. It all depends on whether someone complains about you on social media or if a speech you made some years ago has re-surfaced and caught the attention of the authorities. The uncertainty makes me feel that it is not worth going. But I would not say that my assessment is applicable to everyone.

Ní Mhainín: On 9 May 2019 the Constitutional Court ruled that the imprisonment of Ayşe Çelik, who had been convicted of “disseminating propaganda” in favour of a terrorist organisation for calling on the media to “not keep silent” about the killings in South East Turkey, constituted a violation of freedom of expression. This ruling might offer Academics for Peace some hope. How has news of the court’s ruling been received?

Ugur: In the case of Ayşe Çelik, not only did the court rule that her call for peace in the Kurdish region didn’t constitute propaganda for a terrorist organisation, but it went further by saying that even if someone is spreading terrorist propaganda, it should be considered freedom of expression unless it incites terrorist action. Ayşe Çelik was convicted under the same article that has been used to sentence AFP signatories: article 7.2 of the Anti-terror Law, which carries a heavier sentence than article 3(1) of the Turkish Penal Code (contempt against the Turkish state), which had also been considered by the judiciary.

The AFP have already submitted an application to the Constitutional Court indicating that the actions of the AFP signatories should also be considered freedom of expression rather than terrorist propaganda. The court met on 29 May 2019 but failed to make a decision. There appears to be some tension between the court and the government, but I’m not very optimistic. If the court rules in AFP’s favour, we will celebrate of course, but if it doesn’t then the charade of the Turkish legal system will be proven at another level.

Ní Mhainín: How do you see the situation in Turkey progressing over the coming months and years?

Ugur: It’s very difficult to predict the future, but I think that in the short-term, the situation will continue to be bad for defenders of democracy and freedom in Turkey. This is because of the alliance that keeps the government in power, which is based on two parties: the AKP and the Nationalist Action Party (MHP). The AKP is informed by a synthesis of religion and nationalism, while the MHP originates from a fascistic tradition going back to the 1950s. The current political establishment is against improving academic freedom, democracy or human rights, hence why you have academics, journalists, and people like Osman Kavala being tried and imprisoned.  

The government has so far been using the Kurds to maintain its authoritarian, anti-democratic regime but I think that the set-up is increasingly becoming unsustainable. I believe that people are no longer as affected by the fear and intimidation campaigns that the government is instigating. The results of the local election [31 March 2019], along with the economic crisis, have weakened their campaigns. So there are some signs that this authoritarian regime is running out of steam – and this is a good sign! But I wouldn’t jump to celebrate yet; you need to have a critical mass of people gelling together into a collective assessment that the regime is no longer sustainable. However, I feel that this looks more likely now than it did before the local elections.

I think we will eventually see a gradual erosion of the authoritarian, nationalist and fascist elements in Turkey. Where will it lead? I can’t tell. Changing and rebuilding the institutions will be a massive task. I’m not clear about how that can be done — it will be a challenge.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_basic_grid post_type=”post” max_items=”4″ element_width=”6″ grid_id=”vc_gid:1559732361631-5b64146f-397d-7″ taxonomies=”55″][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Turkey: Press freedom violations May 2019

31 May 19 | Turkey, Turkey Incident Reports

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Index on Censorship’s Monitoring and Advocating for Media Freedom project tracks press freedom violations in five countries: Azerbaijan, Belarus, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine. Learn more.

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”39 Incidents” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_custom_heading text=”Imprisoned journalist Ayşe Düzkan transferred to open prison” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]

Ayşe Düzkan

23 May 2019 – Imprisoned journalist Ayşe Düzkan was released from Bakırköy Women’s Prison in response to her numerous requests to be transferred to an open prison.

Düzkan was to be transferred to the women’s open prison in Eskişehir province within the next 30 hours following her release, Mezopotamya Agency reported. She will serve the remaining part of her 18-month sentence in Eskişehir.

Düzkan was imprisoned on 29 January 2019 to serve the sentence she was handed down in January 2018 for participating in 2016 in a campaign for solidarity with the now-defunct pro-Kurdish newspaper Özgür Gündem.

Link(s):

http://mezopotamyaajansi18.com/tum-haberler/content/view/58682

https://bianet.org/english/women/208790-journalist-ayse-duzkan-referred-to-eskisehir-open-prison

https://yesilgazete.org/blog/2019/05/24/ayse-duzkan-eskisehir-acik-cezaevine-sevk-edildi/

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Prosecutor seeks conviction for Gazete Karınca’s publisher in first hearing” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]23 May 2019 – Necla Demir, the former publisher of the online news website Gazete Karınca, appeared before the 33rd High Criminal Court of Istanbul for the first hearing of her trial.

Demir is accused of “systematically disseminating propaganda for a terrorist organization” for the website’s coverage of Turkey’s 2018 military operation on the Syrian city of Afrin. Demir and her lawyers Özcan Kılıç and Sercan Korkmaz were in attendance at the hearing, P24 reported.

Addressing the court for her defense statement, Demir said that the indictment against her was against law and press freedom. “The coverage of civilian deaths and the bombings of hospitals, which forms the basis of the indictment have been included in both local and international human rights reports. The coverage was considered objectively and written using journalistic terminology,” Demir said and requested her acquittal.

The prosecution then presented their final opinion of the case, requesting the court to convict Demir of “systematically disseminating terrorist propaganda.” Demir’s lawyers requested additional time to prepare their defense statements in response to the prosecutor’s final opinion.

In its interim ruling, the court granted additional time for the final defense statements and adjourned the trial until 11 July 2019.

Link(s):

https://twitter.com/P24DavaTakip/status/1131486132376678400

https://t24.com.tr/haber/gazete-karinca-nin-eski-imtiyaz-sahibi-necla-demir-hakkindaki-ilk-dava-goruldu,822686

https://gazetekarinca.com/2019/05/gazeteci-necla-demirin-davasi-ertelendi/

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Trial of Meşale Tolu and 26 others adjourned until October” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]

Meşale Tolu

23 May 2019 – A trial where 27 defendants, including Etkin news agency (ETHA) reporter and interpreter Meşale Tolu and her husband, Suat Çorlu, a member of the central executive board of the Socialist Party of the Oppressed (ESP), stand accused of terrorism-related charges, resumed at the 29th High Criminal Court of Istanbul.

Çorlu and five other defendants were in attendance in the courtroom as well as defense lawyers, P24 reported. Tolu, a German national, did not attend because she is exempt from personal appearance in court.

Çorlu, whose passport was seized by Turkish authorities upon his arrival at the Istanbul Airport on a flight from Germany to attend the hearing the night before the trial, asked the court whether his passport was confiscated upon a court order.

The presiding judge said there was no travel ban issued by the court but they have found out that three other investigations against him were ongoing. His passport might be taken by authorities in connection with one of those investigations, the court said.

The court set 11 October 2019 as the date for the next hearing.

Link(s):

https://twitter.com/P24DavaTakip/status/1131444687603216384

https://www.br.de/nachrichten/deutschland-welt/prozess-gegen-mesale-tolu-ehemann-darf-tuerkei-nicht-verlassen,RRIXeLg

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Two files against Jin News director Safiye Alağaş merged” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]23 May 2019 – The third hearing in the trial of JinNews news director Safiye Alağaş on the charges of “disseminating propaganda for a terrorist group,” “inciting the public to hatred and animosity” and “praising crime or a criminal” took place at the 4th High Criminal Court of Diyarbakır. Jin News, a women-only and feminist news website based in the Kurdish city of Diyarbakır has faced repeated censorship and investigations over the years.

Alağaş did not attend the hearing, where she was represented by her lawyer, Pirozhan Karali, Mezopotamya Agency reported. The court merged another file against Alağaş on the “propaganda” charge, issued on 16 January 2019 by the Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office of Diyarbakır, with the ongoing case. The presiding judge said the merged file still lacked the journalist’s permanent address.

Lawyer Karali requested additional time to file the permanent address notification and other lacking documents. The court granted the lawyer 20 days to complete the documents and ruled that it would issue an arrest warrant for Alağaş in order for her defense statement to be taken in the event her lawyer fails to meet the deadline.

Link(s):

http://mezopotamyaajansi18.com/tum-haberler/content/view/58659?page=2

https://gazetekarinca.com/2019/05/gazeteci-alagas-davasi-adres-bildirimi-icin-20-gunluk-sure-verildi/

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Mustafa Göktaş ordered to remain behind bars” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]23 May 2019 – The fifth hearing of the trial against Mustafa Göktaş, a former employee of the shuttered pro-Kurdish newspaper Özgürlükçü Demokrasi, took place at the 2nd High Criminal Court of Şanlıurfa.

Göktaş and his lawyer were in attendance at the hearing, Mezopotamya Agency reported. The prosecution reiterated their final opinion of the case, submitted during the previous hearing, in which they asked the court to convict Göktaş of “membership in a terrorist group” and “disseminating terrorist propaganda.”

Göktaş’s lawyer Mustafa Vefa told the court they rejected the prosecutor’s final opinion and requested his client’s release pending trial.

Göktaş requested a continuance, saying he was physically unfit to make his defense statement because he has been on a hunger strike since 1 March.

Granting Göktaş additional time for his defense statement, the court adjourned the trial until 12 September.

Link(s):

http://mezopotamyaajansi18.com/tum-haberler/content/view/58686

https://nupel.net/gazeteci-goktas-tahliye-edilmedi-24368h.html

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Ahmet Altan makes defense statement in “insulting public official” case” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]21 May 2019 – A trial in which imprisoned novelist and journalist Ahmet Altan is accused of “insulting a public official” got underway at the Anadolu 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance, P24 reported.

The case was originally launched in 2010 upon a complaint by former public prosecutor İlhan Cihaner, currently a lawmaker with the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP). The case concerns an article Altan penned in 2010, titled “Büyük Savaş Başladı” (The great battle has begun), in which he mentioned a leaked phone conversation between two justices of the Supreme Court of Appeals about Cihaner’s release from prison, a subject that had previously been covered by news media. Cihaner later withdrew his complaint, and the case was put on hold. However, it got underway again after Altan’s conviction in a case where he was accused of “insulting the president” was upheld by an appellate court in March 2018.

Addressing the court via the courtroom video-conferencing network SEGBİS, Altan said that the prosecution was trying to cover up a scandal in the judiciary that took place 10 years ago by attempting to incriminate him.

In its interim decision, the court ruled to wait for the response from the Criminal Court of First Instance of Gölbaşı concerning Cihaner and adjourned the trial until 17 September 2019.

Link(s):

https://twitter.com/P24DavaTakip/status/1130731056552906753

https://www.evrensel.net/haber/379839/ahmet-altan-kamu-gorevlisine-hakaret-iddiasindan-hakim-karsisindaydi

http://www.haberdar.com/gundem/ahmet-altan-savcilar-sanki-en-sacma-iddianameyi-kim-yazacak-diye-yarisiyor-h135742.html[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Court convicts 7 defendants in Özgür Gündem trial” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]21 May 2019 – The final hearing in the trial of 24 defendants including former Özgür Gündem daily editors and columnists was held at the 14th High Criminal Court of Istanbul, P24 reported.

24 defendants were standing accused of “praising the offense or the offender,” “provoking commission of offense,” and “disseminating terrorist propaganda” crimes. The pro-Kurdish newspaper was closed down by a state of emergency decree on August 2016.

Seven defendants, including the shuttered newspaper’s co-editors in chief – lawyer Eren Keskin and publisher Hüseyin Aykol – managing editor Reyhan Çapan and columnists Ayşe Batumlu and Reyhan Hacıoğlu were handed down jail sentences for the charge of “disseminating propaganda for a terrorist organization.”

Eight other defendants were acquitted for the same crime. The charges against two defendants were dropped due to the expiration of the four-month statute of limitations for pressing charges as per the Article 26/1 of Turkey’s press law and the case files of seven defendants were ruled to be overseen in a separate trial.

The panel sentenced Eren Keskin and Reyhan Çapan to 3 years and 9 months; Hüseyin Akyol to 2 years and 1 month; Hüseyin Güçlü and Tahir Temel to 1 year and 6 months; Reyhan Hacıoğlu and Ayşe Batumlu to 1 year and 3 months in jail for “disseminating terrorist propaganda.”

Hacıoğlu and Batumlu’s sentences were deferred. The sentences that were not deferred will be appealed.

Acquitting Ayşe Berktay, Celalettin Can, Cemal Bozkurt, Çetin Ulu, Emrullah Kurcan, Ergin Atabey, Nuray Özdoğan and Özlem Söyler from the charge of “disseminating terrorist propaganda,” the court decided to separate the case files of Filiz Koçali, Enver Baysal, Hasan Başak, İhsan Yorulmaz, Muzaffer Ayata, Serbest Zan and Züleyha Yılmaz, for whom the arrest warrants issued were not carried out. The defense statements of the seven defendants are yet to be heard.

The court also decided to remove the arrest warrants issued for Ruhat Kaya and Bülent Alp and drop the charge which accuses them of “propaganda” on the grounds that the four-month statute of limitations for pressing charges as per Article 26/1 of Turkey’s press law had expired.

Link(s):

https://twitter.com/P24DavaTakip/status/1130847861401219076

https://t24.com.tr/haber/ozgur-gundem-davasinda-karar-durusmasi-7-kisiye-15-yil-hapis-cezasi-verildi,822472

http://www.diken.com.tr/ozgur-gundem-davasinda-avukat-eren-keskin-ve-gazetecilere-ceza-yagdi/

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Assailants attack local journalist in Antalya” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]20 May 2019 – A local journalist in Antalya was targeted by assailants on 20 May. Ergin Çevik, the editor-in-chief of the Antalya-based news portal Güney Haberci, was attacked by three people in the Aksu district, daily Evrensel reported

Çevik was reportedly assaulted because he wrote about allegations of unearned income in the municipality of Aksu in a column he published in the newspaper. In the column, Çevik called on the Mayor of Aksu Halil Şahin, who was re-elected from the ranks of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) during the local elections on 31 March, to address the allegations.

Link(s):

https://www.evrensel.net/haber/379822/gazetecilere-saldirilar-suruyor-antalyada-ergin-cevik-darbedildi

https://bianet.org/english/human-rights/208674-journalist-ergin-cevik-attacked-in-antalya

https://www.haberturk.com/gazeteci-ergin-cevik-saldiriya-ugradi-2470975

Categories: Physical Assault / Injury

Source of violation: Unknown[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Journalist Mustafa Yayla sent to prison in Izmir for ‘insulting the president’” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]19 May 2019 – Mustafa Yayla, a local journalist based in the Aegean province of Aydın, was sent to prison after an appellate court upheld a previous conviction on the charge of “insulting the president,” online news website T24 reported.

Yayla had been given a prison sentence of 11 months and 20 days over his social media posts in a trial overseen by the 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance of Kuşadası. The court refused to defer his sentence or commute it to a judicial fine.

Yayla, who had recently relocated in the nearby city of Izmir, was placed in the Torbalı Prison.

Link(s):

https://www.gercekgundem.com/medya/93771/gazeteci-mustafa-yayla-erdogana-hakaretten-cezaevine-girdi

https://t24.com.tr/haber/gazeteci-mustafa-yayla-cumhurbaskani-na-hakaretten-cezaevine-girdi,822068

https://gazetekarinca.com/2019/05/gerekcesi-cumhurbaskanina-hakaret-gazeteci-mustafa-yayla-cezaevine-girdi/

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial + Government / State Agency / Public official(s) / Political party[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Journalist İdris Demirel taken into custody in Iğdır” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]17 May 2019 – Local journalist İdris Demirel was taken in custody during house raids by the Gendarmerie in the northeastern province of Iğdır, pro-Kurdish Mezopotamya news agency reported. Demirel was arrested alongside local politician Kemal Çakmak and a citizen named Deniz Kaynar.

Reports said Demirel, Çakmak and Kaynar were arrested as part of an investigation into a demonstration that involved human shields, which took place four years ago.

Link(s):

http://mezopotamyaajansi19.com/tum-haberler/content/view/57971

http://www.haberdar.com/gundem/igdir-da-biri-gazeteci-3-kisi-gozaltina-alindi-h135254.html

http://www.igdirdogusgazetesi.com/haber/2819/17/igdirda-biri-gazeteci-3-kisi-gozaltina-alindiyok

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Trial of journalist Mehmet Çakmakçı adjourned until November” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]17 May 2019 – The trial of journalist Mehmet Çakmakçı on the charge of “membership in a terrorist group” resumed on 17 May at the 10th High Criminal Court of Diyarbakır, online news website Gazete Karınca reported. Çakmakçı, who uses the pen name Şiyar Dicle, was jailed pending trial in 2017 and was released at the end of the first courtroom hearing of his trial.

The court ruled to wait for the response from the Council of Forensic Medicine concerning the forensic examination of audio tapes in the indictment against Çakmakçı and adjourned the trial until 8 November 2019.

Link(s):

https://gazetekarinca.com/2019/05/gazeteci-mehmet-cakmakcinin-durusmasi-ertelendi/

https://www.gercekgundem.com/medya/93406/mehmet-cakmakcinin-durusmasi-goruldu

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Local journalist İdris Özyol beaten, hospitalized in Antalya” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]17 May 2019 – Local journalist İdris Özyol was assaulted by a group of three unidentified assailants in the coastal city of Antalya. The veteran journalist was hospitalized following the attack, which took place during evening hours of 15 May 2019 in front of the offices of the local newspaper Akdeniz’de Yeni Yüzyıl, where he works.

The assailants were arrested on 17 May. Özyol said one of his attackers, whom he identified as Taner Canatek, was the driver of a prominent local politician from the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), which has allied with the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) during the general and presidential elections in 2018 and the local elections in March 2019. Canatek worked for the AKP candidate during the local election campaign, Özyol claimed. Journalist associations condemned the attack.

Link(s):

https://www.evrensel.net/haber/379501/antalyada-gazeteci-idris-ozyol-saldiriya-ugradi

https://www.gazeteduvar.com.tr/gundem/2019/05/15/gazeteci-idris-ozyol-saldiriya-ugradi/

https://ahvalnews.com/journalism/turkish-journalist-beaten-after-critical-commentary

Categories: Physical Assault / Injury

Source of violation: Unknown[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Trial of Özgür Gündem editors and politician Hatip Dicle adjourned” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]16 May 2019 – A trial where journalists Hüseyin Aykol, Zana Kaya and İnan Kızılkaya — former co-editors-in-chief and managing editor of the pro-Kurdish newspaper Özgür Gündem — and Kurdish politician Hatip Dicle stand accused for the news stories and articles published in the newspaper, resumed at the 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance of Istanbul. Özgür Gündem was closed down by a state of emergency decree in August 2016.

The four defendants are accused of “publicly degrading the government, the judiciary or the police force” and “publicly degrading the Turkish nation, the Turkish Republic and the Parliament” under Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code.

None of the defendants were in attendance at the hearing, where they were represented by their lawyer Özcan Kılıç, P24 reported.

In its interim ruling at the end of the hearing, the court decided to wait for the execution of the arrest warrant against Hatip Dicle and adjourned the trial until 10 October 2019.

Link(s):

https://twitter.com/P24DavaTakip/status/1128927471863291904

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Public Prosecutor seeks criminal investigation against Ahmet Şık over his defense statements during trial” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]16 May 2019 – The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office has filed for the lifting of the parliamentary immunity of People’s Democratic Party (HDP) Istanbul MP Ahmet Şık, seeking a criminal investigation over two separate allegations. Şık, a renowned investigative journalist, was sentenced to 7,5 years in prison pending appeal in the trial against the executive and staff of the daily Cumhuriyet in 2018.

The Prosecutor’s Office accuses Şık of “insulting the Turkish Republic, the government and the judiciary” as per Article 301 of the Turkish Criminal Code based on his remarks in his defense statement in the “Cumhuriyet trial,” online news website T24 reported. The vocal journalist’s statement  had a wide echo in the national political and public debate.

The Prosecutor’s Office is separately accusing Şık of “insulting the president” based on two complaints filed with the Presidency Communication Center (CİMER).

Link(s):

https://t24.com.tr/haber/ahmet-sik-hakkinda-iki-ayri-fezleke-duzenlendi-cumhuriyet-davasindaki-savunma-kanit-sayildi,821560

https://www.evrensel.net/haber/379513/hdp-milletvekili-ahmet-sik-hakkinda-iki-ayri-fezleke-duzenlendi

https://tr.sputniknews.com/turkiye/201905161039066278-ahmet-sik-hakkinda-iki-ayri-fezleke-duzenlendi/

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Imprisoned journalist İdris Yılmaz faces new charges” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]16 May 2019 – Imprisoned journalist İdris Yılmaz is facing terrorism-related charges in a new indictment, pro-Kurdish Mezopotamya news agency reported. Yılmaz, a journalist based in the eastern province of Van, is currently imprisoned in the Elazığ No. 1 Maximum Security Prison, serving a combined prison term of nearly 10 years he has been given in various trials over his journalistic work.

The new indictment, prepared in light of a witness testimony, accuses Yılmaz of “membership in a terrorist group” and “disseminating propaganda for a terrorist group.” The journalist’s social media posts are held as evidence for the “propaganda” charge.

Link(s):

http://mezopotamyaajansi19.com/tum-haberler/content/view/57816?page=2

https://www.evrensel.net/haber/379554/tutuklu-gazeteci-idris-yilmaz-hakkinda-bir-dava-daha-acildi

http://www.cumhuriyet.com.tr/haber/turkiye/1396389/Gazeteci_Yilmaz_a_bir_dava_daha.html

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Seda Taşkın acquitted of one charge but convicted of “propaganda”” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]15 May 2019 – The appellate court overseeing Mezopotamya news agency (MA) reporter Seda Taşkın’s appeal has overturned the trial court’s October 2018 verdict that sentenced the journalist to a total of 7.5 years in prison on two separate charges.

Taşkın addressed the 6th Criminal Chamber of the Erzurum Regional Court of Justice from the Ankara courthouse via the courtroom video-conferencing system, P24 reported.

Taşkın told the court that she was put on trial as a result of her journalistic work. “Journalism is not a crime,” Taşkın added.

At the end of the second appeal hearing of Taşkın’s trial, held on 15 May 2019, the 6th Criminal Chamber of the Erzurum Regional Court of Justice acquitted the journalist of “aiding a terrorist organization without being its member” while giving her a prison sentence of 1 year, 11 months and 10 days on the charge of “disseminating propaganda for a terrorist organization.” The court deferred the sentence.

Link(s):

https://twitter.com/P24DavaTakip/status/1128541621090496512

https://www.evrensel.net/haber/379422/gazeteci-seda-taskina-verilen-1-yil-11-ay-hapis-cezasi-ertelendi

https://gazetekarinca.com/2019/05/gazeteci-seda-taskina-hem-ceza-hem-beraat/

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Court drops charge against journalist Erdem Gül in intel trucks case” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]15 May 2019 – The final hearing of Cumhuriyet daily’s former Ankara representative Erdem Gül and opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy Enis Berberoğlu where they were accused of “aiding a terrorist organization without being its member,” was held at the 14th High Criminal Court of Istanbul. The trial is related to the publication of footages allegedly showing weapons bound to Syria in trucks belonging to the Turkish intelligence agency MİT by the newspaper Cumhuriyet on May 2014.

Berberoğlu, a former journalist and editor-in-chief of the mainstream newspaper Hürriyet, was accused of providing the footages to the newspaper.

In its verdict on Gül, the court ruled that the the four-month statute of limitations for pressing charges as per the Turkish press law had expired and dismissed the case, P24 reported.

Concerning Berberoğlu’s file, the court ruled that there was no need to render a separate verdict on the charge of “aiding a terrorist organization without being its member” on the grounds of Berberoğlu’s previous conviction in another trial in relation to the same news report for “disclosing confidential information pertaining to the security of the state.” The court also lifted the international travel ban on Berberoğlu.

The retrial of Can Dündar, Cumhuriyet’s then editor-in-chief, on the charge of “disclosing confidential information for espionage purposes” over the same coverage in the newspaper also resumed on 15 May at the 14th High Criminal Court of Istanbul. The court decided to wait for the response from German judicial authorities concerning Turkey’s extradition request for Dündar and adjourned the trial until 31 October 2019.

Link(s):

https://expressioninterrupted.com/tr/mit-tirlari-davasinda-erdem-gul-hakkindaki-suclama-dusuruldu/

https://medyascope.tv/2019/05/15/mit-tirlari-erdem-gul-hakkindaki-dava-dusuruldu/

https://tr.sputniknews.com/turkiye/201905151039059191-mit-tirlari-davasinda-erdem-gul-ve-enis-berberoglu-karari/

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Reporter Soner Karabulut briefly detained” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]15 May 2019 – Journalist Soner Karabulut, a reporter for the pro-Kurdish online newspaper Gazete Fersude, was taken into custody on 14 May in Istanbul during house raids by the police, the website reported. The investigation was targeting members of the Socialist Party of the Oppressed (ESP), the report said.

Karabulut and five others were referred to the Istanbul Courthouse on 15 May. The court released Karabulut and four ESP members under judicial control measures.

Link(s):

https://www.gazetefersude.com/istanbulda-ev-baskinlari-gazetemiz-muhabiri-soner-karabulut-dahil-4-kisi-gozaltinda-58248/

https://ilerihaber.org/icerik/gazete-fersude-muhabiri-soner-karabulut-gozaltina-alindi-97784.html

https://tihv.org.tr/16-mayis-2019-gunluk-insan-haklari-raporu/

Categories: Arrest / Detention / Interrogation

Source of violation: Police / State security[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Evrensel editor-in-chief’s trial on ‘insulting the president’ charge adjourned” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]14 May 2019 – The second hearing in the trial of journalist Fatih Polat, the editor-in-chief of Evrensel daily, on the charge of “insulting the president” took place at the Bakırköy 31st Criminal Court of First Instance.

Polat is standing trial over his article titled “Erdoğan ailesiyle ilgili bu iddialara muhatapları ne diyor?” (What do those addressed say about these allegations concerning the Erdoğan family?), published in the newspaper on 28 May 2017.

An Istanbul court had ordered the column be removed from the Evrensel website. The newspaper’s lawyers objected to the court order, but their objection was rejected and the article was subsequently removed from the website. After the removal of the article, lawyers representing President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan filed a lawsuit against Polat for the column.

Lawyer Devrim Avcı submitted to the court the original news report published in the website theblacksea.eu, that was the source of Polat’s article, P24 reported. Avcı added that the news report was still accessible online.

Avcı also submitted to the court an expert opinion concerning Polat’s case that was penned by the London-based human rights organization Article 19. Avcı told the court that the expert opinion by Article 19 demonstrated that Craig Shaw’s news report, which Polat quoted in its entirety in his article, was nominated for the British Journalism Awards in England and the European Press Prize.

After accepting the documents submitted by the defense lawyers, the court ruled to send a memo to the Journalists’ Association of Turkey (TGC) and the Turkish Journalists Union (TGS), seeking their opinion about the website that was the source for Polat’s article and whether Craig Shaw, the author of the original article, is a journalist or not. The court then adjourned the trial until 17 September 2019.

Link(s):

https://twitter.com/P24DavaTakip/status/1128189606502047744

https://www.evrensel.net/haber/379364/gazeteci-fatih-polat-malta-belgeleri-nedeniyle-hakim-karsisina-cikti

https://gazetekarinca.com/2019/05/gazeteci-fatih-polatin-durusmasi-ertelendi/

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences + Censorship (i)

Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Journalists Zeynep Kuray, İrfan Tunççelik spend three days in custody for covering demonstrations” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]13 May 2019 – Journalist Zeynep Kuray and İrfan Tunççelik, a reporter for the Mezopotamya news agency (MA), were both taken into custody as they were covering demonstrations in Istanbul aimed at raising awareness of ongoing hunger strikes in Turkey’s prisons.

Kuray was arrested while she was covering a demonstration in the Spice Bazaar in the historic Eminönü quarter while Tunççelik was arrested as he was covering a demonstration in front of the Bakırköy Prison, online news website Artı Gerçek reported.

Both journalists were brought to the Istanbul Courthouse on 13 May. The prosecutor requested their imprisonment pending trial. The court released both journalists under judicial control measures.

Link(s):

https://www.artigercek.com/haberler/gazeteciler-zeynep-kuray-ve-irfan-tunccelik-gozaltina-alindi

https://gazetekarinca.com/2019/05/gazeteciler-zeynep-kuray-ve-irfan-tunccelik-serbest-birakildi/

https://bianet.org/english/freedom-of-expression/208453-journalists-zeynep-kuray-and-irfan-tunccelik-released-on-probation

Categories: Arrest / Detention / Interrogation

Source of violation: Police / State security[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Assaillants attack prominent columnist in front of his house” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]13 May 2019 – Journalist Yavuz Selim Demirağ, a prominent columnist for the nationalist Yeniçağ newspaper, suffered serious injuries from an attack in front of his house in Ankara.

The attack took place late in the evening hours of 10 May, as Demirağ was returning home after hosting a political show on a private TV broadcaster. The assailants, a group of seven men, fled the scene in a car after beating up Demirağ using baseball bats.

Demirağ was hospitalized by his relatives. Six people who were arrested during the week in connection with the attack were released after giving their statements before a prosecutor on 13 May.

Link(s):

https://www.yenicaggazetesi.com.tr/yavuz-selim-demiraga-alcak-saldiri-233723h.htm

https://www.ntv.com.tr/turkiye/gazeteci-yavuz-selim-demirag-evinin-onunde-saldiriya-ugradi,7o-CIobc0kidXDs5hikGCw

https://www.yenicaggazetesi.com.tr/savciliktan-yavuz-selim-demiraga-saldiranlar-hakkinda-zoraki-islem-234370h.htm

https://www.yenicaggazetesi.com.tr/spor-aleti-51931yy.htm

Categories: Physical Assault / Injury

Source of violation: Unknown[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Journalist Canan Coşkun briefly detained over unpaid legal fine” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]11 May 2019 – Journalist Canan Coşkun was taken into custody late 10 May 2019 in Istanbul based on an arrest warrant, which came up during a police security check, DW reported.

It later became clear that the warrant had been issued because of an overdue legal fine of TL 12,600 handed down by the Istanbul 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance in a case where Coşkun was convicted of “insulting a public official” over a news story she penned in 2015 for the Cumhuriyet daily. The newspaper had failed to pay the amount after the ruling became definitive.

Coşkun spent the night at the police station. She was released the next day after the overdue fine was paid.

Link(s):

https://www.dw.com/tr/gazeteci-canan-co%C5%9Fkun-serbest-b%C4%B1rak%C4%B1ld%C4%B1/a-48700121

https://medyascope.tv/2019/05/11/canan-coskun-yazdi-nezarethaneden-izlenimler/

https://www.gazeteduvar.com.tr/gundem/2019/05/11/canan-coskun-serbest-birakildi/

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”“KCK press trial” adjourned until October” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]9 May 2019 – The 16th hearing of the “KCK Press Trial,” where a total of 46 journalists and other media workers stand accused of “membership in a terrorist group” and “terrorism propaganda,” took place at the 3rd High Criminal Court of Istanbul.

None of the defendants were in attendance at the hearing and were represented by their lawyers, P24 reported.

The presiding judge announced during the hearing that a separate case file about one of the defendants, journalist Yüksel Genç, overseen by the 14th High Criminal Court of Istanbul, was sent to the court with the request to merge the two files. However, the trial court rejected the request.

The court then adjourned the trial until 22 October 2019.

Link(s):

https://twitter.com/P24DavaTakip/status/1126429796798431232

https://www.evrensel.net/haber/379064/kck-basin-davasi-goruldu-gazeteci-yuksel-gence-yeni-dava

https://gazetekarinca.com/2019/05/kck-basin-davasi-gazeteci-yuksel-gence-yeni-dava-acilmis-bir-sonraki-durusma-ekimde/[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Court announces deferred judgment about jailed journalist Yetkin Yıldız” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]9 May 2019 – A court in Ankara announced a judgment against jailed journalist Yetkin Yıldız that had been deferred, P24 reported.

The 35th Criminal Court of First Instance of Ankara had convicted Yıldız of “insult” in a case that had been filed in 2010 by a judge. The accusation stemmed from a news story published online in the news website Stratejik Boyut, where Yıldız was the chief editor. The 10-month sentence Yıldız was given at the time had been deferred by five years.

Yıldız later stood trial in a separate case on the charges of “insult” and “publicly inciting crime” over an article posted online on the news portal Aktif Haber, where he was chief editor during his five-year probation. Yıldız was also convicted in that case, overseen by the 1st Criminal Court of First Instance of Silivri.

Since he “committed a similar offense” during his five-year probation, the 35th Criminal Court of First Instance of Ankara announced its earlier judgment at the hearing on 9 May. The court suspended Yıldız’s sentence by 1 year.

Yıldız is currently imprisoned in the Silivri Prison in Istanbul. He was sentenced in 2018 to 7 years and 6 months in prison on the charge of “membership in a terrorist organization” as part of a major media trial where columnists Murat Aksoy and Atilla Taş were among his 25 co-defendants.

Link(s):

https://expressioninterrupted.com/tr/turkiyede-basin-ve-ifade-ozgurlugu-207/

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Trial of 7 journalists over 2016 news story adjourned until October” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]8 May 2019 – A trial where seven journalists and one other defendant are charged with “making those involved in combating terrorism a target” resumed at the 9th High Criminal Court of Diyarbakır.

The case was launched after a complaint from senior gendarmerie commander Maj. Gen. Musa Çitil, who was cited in the news report, published in February 2016 by the pro-Kurdish Dicle News Agency (DİHA). The agency was closed down by a state of emergency decree in October 2016.

The defendants include Ömer Çelik, who was the news editor at DİHA at the time, DİHA reporters Çağdaş Kaplan, Hamza Gündüz and Selman Çiçek, journalist Abdulvahap Taş as well as the responsible editor and publisher of the pro-Kurdish newspaper Özgür gündem, İnan Kızılkaya and Kemal Sancılı. Çiçek is additionally charged with “disseminating propaganda for a terrorist organization.” An eighth defendant, who is at large, is also cited in the indictment.

Sancılı, who is currently imprisoned in Edirne, addressed the court via the courtroom video-conferencing network. The rest of the defendants were not in attendance and were instead represented by their lawyers, P24 reported. This was the third hearing in the case.

In its interim ruling, the court decided to wait for the execution of the arrest warrant in place for the eighth defendant, Selim Günenç, and adjourned the trial until 2 October 2019.

Link(s):

https://twitter.com/P24DavaTakip/status/1126007620534448129

https://gazetekarinca.com/2019/05/musa-citilin-sikayetiyle-haklarinda-dava-acilan-yedi-gazetecinin-durusmasi-ertelendi-2/

https://tihv.org.tr/09-mayis-2019-gunluk-insan-haklari-raporu/

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Özgür Gündem trial adjourned” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]8 May 2019 – The trial of 23 former pro-Kurdish Özgür Gündem newspaper’s editors and columnists, including Eren Keskin, Hüseyin Aykol, Reyhan Çapan, Filiz Koçali, Ayşe Berktay, Nuray Özdoğan, Celalettin Can, Ayşe Batumlu and Reyhan Hacıoğlu, resumed at the 14th High Criminal Court of Istanbul. The 23 defendants are accused of “praising crime and criminals,” “inciting crime,” and “disseminating propaganda for a terrorist group.” The newspaper was closed down on August 2016 by a state of emergency decree.

The prosecution reiterated their final opinion of the case, submitted to the court on 26 October 2017. Lawyer Özcan Kılıç, who represents part of the defendants in the case, requested additional time for the final defense statements since the court has rejected his request at the previous hearing to merge this case with another ongoing trial against the newspaper. The court granted additional time for the defense statements and adjourned the trial until 21 May 2019 when the verdict is expected to be announced.

Link(s):

https://twitter.com/P24DavaTakip/status/1126074473092923392

https://t24.com.tr/haber/ozgur-gundem-davasi-21-mayis-a-ertelendi,820315

https://www.evrensel.net/haber/378988/ozgur-gundem-davasi-21-mayisa-ertelendi

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Prosecutor seeks conviction for jailed journalist Mehmet Gündem” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]8 May 2019 – The fifth hearing in the trial of jailed journalist and columnist Mehmet Gündem on the charge of “terrorist group membership” took place at the 35th High Criminal Court of Istanbul.

Gündem, who is in pre-trial detention in the Silivri Prison, was brought to the courtroom under the supervision of gendarmerie officers, P24 reported.

The prosecutor sought for Gündem’s conviction on the charge of “membership in a terrorist group” according to the final opinion submitted to the court in between courtroom hearings.

Gündem’s lawyers requested additional time to prepare their final defense statements and asked for the journalist’s release from prison pending trial.

Ruling for the continuation of Gündem’s pre-trial detention, the court granted additional time to the defense and adjourned the trial until 29 May.

Link(s):

https://twitter.com/P24DavaTakip/status/1126053682955603968

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Constitutional court finds ‘no violations of rights’ in jailed journalists’ files” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]3 May 2019 – Turkey’s Constitutional Court on 3 May rejected the individual application of jailed novelist and journalist Ahmet Altan, finding no rights violations in his file that had been pending before the court since November 2016. The court also rejected the application of Nazlı Ilıcak, Altan’s co-defendant in the “coup” case.

Altan and Ilıcak’s files were among 10 individual applications by journalists reviewed by the top court’s Plenary over two days, on 2 and 3 May.

The other applications were those filed on behalf of former Cumhuriyet staff members Murat Sabuncu, Ahmet Şık, Akın Atalay, Kadri Gürsel, Bülent Utku and Önder Çelik, former Zaman columnist Ali Bulaç and journalist Murat Aksoy.

The Plenary concluded at the end of the morning session of Friday’s deliberations that there was “no rights violations” in Altan’s file, while it ruled in favor of Bulaç. Rendering its decision concerning Ilıcak’s application on Friday afternoon, the Constitutional Court rejected her application through a unanimous vote.

On Thursday, at the end of the first day of deliberations, the court ruled that Kadri Gürsel and Murat Aksoy’s rights to personal liberty and security had been violated, while it rejected the applications of former Cumhuriyet staffers Akın Atalay, Murat Sabuncu, Önder Çelik, Ahmet Şık and Bülent Utku. Both Gürsel and Aksoy, whose demands were accepted by the top court, have served their entire prison sentences. The others, however, have all prison time remaining on their sentence. Çelik and Utku, were recently sent back to prison to serve the remaining part of their sentences after those were uphold by an appellate court. Prison sentences against Atalay, Sabuncu, Şık being over 5 years will be further reviewed by the Supreme Court of Appeals.

The court rendered all decisions except for the one concerning Ilıcak’s file through a majority vote.

Link(s):

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/05/top-turkey-court-rejects-jailed-journalist-appeals-190503181911161.html

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkeys-top-court-rejects-individual-appeals-of-sentenced-journalists-143145

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/turkeys-highest-court-says-journalists-rights-violated

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”P24 Founding President Hasan Cemal convicted of “propaganda” over 2015 column” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]7 May 2019 – P24’s founding president and T24 columnist Hasan Cemal was given a prison sentence of 3 months and 22 days on the charge of “disseminating propaganda for a terrorist organization” on 7 May 2019.

Cemal was standing trial over an article he penned in 2015, titled “Silvan’dan: Bizi acılara ve ölümlere o kadar alıştırdılar ki…” (Silvan: They’ve inured us to pain and death).

This was the third hearing in the trial, overseen by the Istanbul 36th High Criminal Court. Hasan Cemal and his lawyer Fikret İlkiz were in attendance, P24 reported.

Addressing the court for his defense statement, Hasan Cemal rejected the accusation and asked to be acquitted.

After hearing the defense statements by Cemal and his lawyer, the court went on to issue its verdict, convicting Cemal of “disseminating propaganda for a terrorist group” and giving him 1 year, 6 months and 22 days in prison. The panel ruled for the sentence to be deducted from a previous sentence Cemal was given on the same charge by the 22th High Criminal Court of Istanbul. As a result, the court gave Cemal a prison sentence of 3 months and 22 days, which it then commuted to a judicial fine of TL 3,360.

Link(s):

https://twitter.com/P24DavaTakip/status/1125761094323245058

https://t24.com.tr/haber/hasan-cemal-75-yasinda-50-yillik-bir-gazeteci-olarak-teror-propagandasi-iddiasiyla-yargilanmam-turkiye-deki-buyuk-cokusun-gostergesi,820114

http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/gundem/teror-orgutu-propagandasindan-ceza-41206770

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Journalist Cansu Pişkin given 10-month prison term for news story” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]7 May 2019 – Journalist Cansu Pişkin was handed down a prison sentence on the charge of “marking the identity of a state official assigned in the fight against terrorism as a target” over a news report published in 2018 in the Evrensel newspaper.

Pişkin and her lawyers Levent Pişkin, Devrim Avcı and Mustafa Söğütlü were in attendance at the 36th High Criminal Court of Istanbul for the third hearing of her trial, P24 reported. The hearing was monitored by representatives from Reporters Without Borders (RSF), International Press Institute (IPI), Article 19 and a number of academics and journalists.

Pişkin addressed the court and reiterated her previous defense statement saying that she did not write the news story for which she is accused with the intent to commit a crime but to inform the public.

Following the completion of the defense statements, the court issued its verdict, finding Pişkin guilty of “marking the identity of a state official assigned in the fight against terrorism as a target.” The court sentenced her to 10 months in prison and deferred the sentence.

A group of students from Istanbul’s Boğaziçi University were imprisoned in late March 2018 for staging an anti-war protest. In her news story published on 5 April 2018, Pişkin reported that the prosecutor assigned to the investigation concerning the Boğaziçi students on 3 April, the day on which the students were referred to court, had claimed in a previous indictment that the People’s Democratic Party (HDP) was a political party “operating under the guidance of a terrorist group.”

Link(s):

https://twitter.com/P24DavaTakip/status/1125734034636722177

https://medyascope.tv/2019/05/07/gazeteci-cansu-piskine-10-ay-hapis-cezasi-verildi/

https://www.evrensel.net/haber/378928/gazeteci-cansu-piskine-10-ay-hapis-cezasi

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Prosecution seeks sentence for photojournalist Çağdaş Erdoğan on “propaganda” charge” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]7 May 2019 – The fifth hearing of the trial of photojournalist Çağdaş Erdoğan on the charges of “membership in a terrorist group” and “disseminating propaganda for a terrorist organization” took place at the 33rd High Criminal Court of Istanbul.

Representatives from Article 19, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the International Press Institute (IPI) monitored the hearing, where Erdoğan and his lawyer Figen Albuga Çalıkuşu were in attendance, P24 reported.

The prosecution submitted their final opinion of the case during the hearing, seeking conviction for Erdoğan on the charge of “propaganda” as per Article 7/2 of Turkey’s anti-terror law (TMK). The prosecution requested Erdoğan’s acquittal for the “membership” charge.

Lawyer Çalıkuşu requested a continuance for Erdoğan’s final defense statement. Granting additional time for the defense, the court adjourned the trial until 13 June 2019.

Link(s):

https://twitter.com/P24DavaTakip/status/1125726809637703682

https://tihv.org.tr/08-mayis-2019-gunluk-insan-haklari-raporu/

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Kibriye Evren ordered to remain behind bars” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]7 May 2019 – The trial of jailed journalist Kibriye Evren on terrorism-related charges resumed at the 5th High Criminal Court of Diyarbakır.

Evren, who is jailed in the Diyarbakır Prison, and has been on a hunger strike since 16 December 2018, did not attend the hearing, P24 reported. She was represented by her lawyers Pirozhan Karali and Resul Temur.The prosecution said they reiterated their final opinion of the case, submitted to the court on 16 April. The prosecutor also requested the continuation of Evren’s pre-trial detention.

Evren’s lawyer Temur requested additional time for Evren to make her final defense statement in person in the courtroom. He also requested his client’s release pending trial. In their interim decision, the court ruled to keep Evren in pre-trial detention and adjourned the trial until 18 July 2019.

Link(s):

https://twitter.com/P24DavaTakip/status/1125652925823508480

http://gazetekarinca.com/2019/05/aclik-grevindeki-gazeteci-kibriye-evrene-yine-tahliye-yok/

https://www.gazeteduvar.com.tr/gundem/2019/05/07/gazeteci-evren-tahliye-edilmedi/

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Appellate court drops jail sentence given to Pelin Ünker in Paradise Papers case” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]6 May 2019 – An appellate court has overturned a jail sentence handed down in January to former Cumhuriyet daily reporter Pelin Ünker, Medyascope reported.

Ünker was given a 13-month prison sentence by the 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance of Istanbul in a lawsuit filed by former Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım and his two sons over Ünker’s reporting on the “Paradise Papers” leaks.

According to the report, the appellate court ruled on 19 April for the conviction against Ünker in the case filed by Bülent and Erkam Yıldırım to be dropped because the four-month statute of limitations for pressing charges as per Article 26/1 of Turkey’s press law had expired.

The appellate court upheld the legal fine Ünker was given on the charge of “insulting a public official.” However, it ruled that the compensation Ünker was ordered to pay should be TL 7,080 instead of TL 8,660.

Link(s):

https://medyascope.tv/2019/05/06/paradise-papers-davasi-istinaf-mahkemesi-gazeteci-pelin-unkerin-hapis-cezasini-bozdu/

https://t24.com.tr/haber/istinaf-mahkemesi-gazeteci-pelin-unker-in-hapis-cezasini-bozdu,819926

http://bianet.org/bianet/ifade-ozgurlugu/208208-istinaf-mahkemesi-pelin-unker-in-hapis-cezasini-bozdu-para-cezasini-onadi

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Mezopotamya Agency reporter Barış Polat released under judicial control measures” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]5 May 2019 – Barış Polat, an intern reporter for the pro-Kurdish Mezopotamya news agency, who was taken into custody on 3 May as he was covering a news story at the Şanlıurfa Courthouse, was released from custody on 5 May. Polat was taken to the courthouse following his questioning at the anti-terror branch of the Şanlıurfa Police Department. Polat was released under judicial control measures by the court he was referred to.

Link(s):

http://mezopotamyaajansi16.com/tum-haberler/content/view/56576?page=8

https://ozgurmanset.net/muhabirimiz-baris-polat-serbest-birakildi/

Categories: Arrest / Detention / Interrogation

Source of violation: Police / State security[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Constitutional court finds ‘no violations of rights’ in jailed journalists’ files” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]3 May 2019 – Turkey’s Constitutional Court on 3 May rejected the individual application of jailed novelist and journalist Ahmet Altan, finding no rights violations in his file that had been pending before the court since November 2016. The court also rejected the application of Nazlı Ilıcak, Altan’s co-defendant in the “coup” case.

Altan and Ilıcak’s files were among 10 individual applications by journalists reviewed by the top court’s Plenary over two days, on 2 and 3 May.

The other applications were those filed on behalf of former Cumhuriyet staff members Murat Sabuncu, Ahmet Şık, Akın Atalay, Kadri Gürsel, Bülent Utku and Önder Çelik, former Zaman columnist Ali Bulaç and journalist Murat Aksoy.

The Plenary concluded at the end of the morning session of Friday’s deliberations that there was “no rights violations” in Altan’s file, while it ruled in favor of Bulaç. Rendering its decision concerning Ilıcak’s application on Friday afternoon, the Constitutional Court rejected her application through a unanimous vote.

On Thursday, at the end of the first day of deliberations, the court ruled that Kadri Gürsel and Murat Aksoy’s rights to personal liberty and security had been violated, while it rejected the applications of former Cumhuriyet staffers Akın Atalay, Murat Sabuncu, Önder Çelik, Ahmet Şık and Bülent Utku. Both Gürsel and Aksoy, whose demands were accepted by the top court, have served their entire prison sentences. The others, however, have all prison time remaining on their sentence. Çelik and Utku, were recently sent back to prison to serve the remaining part of their sentences after those were uphold by an appellate court. Prison sentences against Atalay, Sabuncu, Şık being over 5 years will be further reviewed by the Supreme Court of Appeals.

The court rendered all decisions except for the one concerning Ilıcak’s file through a majority vote.

Link(s):

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/05/top-turkey-court-rejects-jailed-journalist-appeals-190503181911161.html

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkeys-top-court-rejects-individual-appeals-of-sentenced-journalists-143145

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/turkeys-highest-court-says-journalists-rights-violated

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Mezopotamya news agency reporter Barış Polat taken into custody” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]3 May 2019 – Barış Polat, an intern reporter for the Mezopotamya news agency, was taken into custody on 3 May at the entrance of the Şanlıurfa Courthouse, where he was covering a news story. Polat was detained on the grounds that he was taking photographs inside the courthouse, the agency reported.

Link(s):

http://mezopotamyaajansi16.com/tum-haberler/content/view/56367

https://gazetekarinca.com/2019/05/gazeteci-baris-polat-gozaltinda/

https://t24.com.tr/haber/mezopotamya-ajansi-muhabiri-baris-polat-gozaltina-alindi,819514

Categories: Arrest / Detention / Interrogation

Source of violation: Police / State security[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Constitutional court rejects Ziya Ataman’s application” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]2 May 2019 – Turkey’s Constitutional Court ruled on the individual application of jailed reporter Ziya Ataman, online news website Gazete Karınca reported. The court rejected Ataman’s application, the report said, finding his claim that his right to personal liberty and security to be “ill-founded” and his claim that his right to a fair trial was violated inadmissible because “all legal remedies have not been exhausted.

Ataman, a reported for the pro-Kurdish Dicle News Agency (DİHA), which was closed down by a state of emergency decree in 2016, has been jailed for more than three years. The trial against him is ongoing in the southeastern province of Şırnak.

Link(s):

http://gazetekarinca.com/2019/05/aymden-tutuklu-gazeteci-ataman-icin-yapilan-basvuruya-ret/

https://bianet.org/bianet/ifade-ozgurlugu/208071-anayasa-mahkemesi-gazeteci-ziya-ataman-in-basvurusunu-reddetti

https://www.gazeteduvar.com.tr/gundem/2019/05/02/anayasa-mahkemesi-gazeteci-ziya-atamanin-basvurusunu-reddetti/

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Former TV10 staff members’ trial adjourned” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]2 May 2019 – The second hearing of the trial of two former employees of the shuttered TV station TV10, camera operator Kemal Demir and staff member Kemal Karagöz, took place in Istanbul. Both Demir and Karagöz are charged with “membership in a terrorist group” in the case, overseen by the 28th High Criminal Court of Istanbul.

Demir and Karagöz were taken into custody in December 2017. At the end of the detention period, Demir was jailed pending trial while Karagöz was released under judicial control measures. The first hearing of their trial took place on 3 July 2018, but the 28th High Criminal Court of Istanbul ruled at the end of the hearing to send the case file to a criminal court in the southern city of Mersin on the grounds that it had no jurisdiction over the case. However, the Mersin court also ruled that it had no jurisdiction and the case file ended up at the Supreme Court of Appeals, which ruled that the original trial court had jurisdiction. The 28th High Criminal Court of Istanbul, reevaluating the case file after the Supreme Court of Appeals’ decision, ruled on 8 February 2019 for Demir’s release pending trial.

The second hearing, where both Demir and Karagöz were in attendance, was monitored by Rebecca Harms, a German Member of the European Parliament (MEP), and International Press Institute (IPI).

In its interim ruling at the end of the hearing, the court ruled for the continuation of Demir’s travel ban while lifting the judicial control measure imposed on Karagöz, P24 reported. The court granted both defendants exemption from personal appearance in the courtroom and adjourned the trial until 10 September 2019.

Link(s):

https://twitter.com/P24DavaTakip/status/1123847116370083841

https://www.evrensel.net/haber/378639/tv10-calisanlarinin-yargilandigi-dava-10-eylule-ertelendi

https://www.pirha.net/tv10-calisanlari-demir-ve-karagozun-durusmasi-10-eylule-ertelendi-video-170575.html/02/05/2019/

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”“Bakur trial” adjourned until July” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]2 May 2019 – A trial where journalist Ertuğrul Mavioğlu and filmmaker Çayan Demirel are charged with “propaganda” for a documentary they co-directed titled Bakur (“Nort”h in Kurdish) resumed in the southeastern city of Batman.

Both Mavioğlu and Demirel, as well as their lawyers, were in attendance at the sixth hearing in the trial overseen by the 2nd High Criminal Court of Batman. MPs Ayşe Acar Başaran and Ahmet Şık, representatives from the Association of Documentary Filmmakers of Turkey, journalists from the Altyazı film magazine, academics, filmmakers and stage actors were among those who came to Kurdish city to observe the hearing and lend support to Mavioğlu and Demirel.

At the beginning of the hearing, the judges announced that it had recently come to their attention that a separate criminal investigation into Mavioğlu on the charge of “propaganda” was under way in Ankara, P24 reported.

In their interim decision, the court ruled to inquire of the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office about the investigation into Mavioğlu and ask for a copy of the investigation file. The court also decided to grant additional time to the defendants for their statements in response to the prosecutor’s final opinion of the case and adjourned the trial until 18 July, when a verdict is expected.

Link(s):

https://twitter.com/P24DavaTakip/status/1123902975804678144

http://susma24.com/bakur-davasi-18-temmuza-ertelendi/

https://www.gazeteduvar.com.tr/gundem/2019/05/02/bakur-durusmasi-temmuza-kaldi/

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_basic_grid post_type=”post” max_items=”4″ element_width=”6″ grid_id=”vc_gid:1560520560729-052775e3-ee0d-1″ taxonomies=”8996″][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Solidarity with Academics for Peace imprisoned in Turkey

17 May 19 | Academic Freedom, Academic Freedom Statements, Campaigns -- Featured, Statements, Turkey, Turkey Statements

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”106898″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes”][vc_column_text]“Turkey is incarcerating its academics!”

This is what Tuna Altınel (Claude Bernard University of Lyon 1, France) wrote to the European solidarity networks on 8 May 2019, as Füsun Üstel was taken into prison in Eskişehir.

A political science professor from Galatasaray University, Füsun Üstel is one of the 2,237 signatories of the peace declaration issued in January 2016. She is in jail for denouncing the Turkish state’s violation of the basic rights and humanitarian law in Kurdish cities and towns of Turkey.

Three days after coming out in support of Professor Üstel, Tuna Altınel, Associate Professor of Mathematics, was detained on 11 May 2019. He is in jail for speaking at a conference organised in Lyon on the 21st of February 2019 by an association of solidarity with Kurdish people.

Academics for Peace have been subject to ruthless waves of show trials for defending peace and democracy. Turkish judges are outbidding each other in handing down sentences that the ‘Chief’, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has been demanding.

We declare our solidarity with Academics for Peace, and with all progressives under threat in Turkey. We call on the UK government, the Parliament, the universities and the funding councils to be on the side of democracy and academic freedom in Turkey. Appeasing the Turkish regime will bring only disastrous consequences for the UK and the wider Europe.

We call on fellow academics to suspend cooperation with Turkish higher education institutions that have been complicit in the crimes against Academics for Peace.

Signatories

Academics for Peace UK

Britanya Alevi Federasyonu

Index on Censorship

SPOT –  Solidarity With The People of Turkey[/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_icon icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-exclamation” color=”custom” background_style=”rounded” background_color=”black” size=”xl” align=”right” custom_color=”#dd3333″][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”3/4″][vc_column_text]

TAKE ACTION

Show YOUR solidarity by joining a protest for imprisoned academics in Turkey.

Saturday, 18 May at 1pm
Opposite 10 Downing Street, London[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_basic_grid post_type=”post” max_items=”4″ element_width=”6″ grid_id=”vc_gid:1558110088169-0e265c33-782d-9″ taxonomies=”55″][/vc_column][/vc_row]

World Press Freedom Day should bring freedom for Musa Kart and his Cumhuriyet colleagues

03 May 19 | Campaigns -- Featured, Statements, Turkey, Turkey Statements

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

Musa Kart

Musa Kart

Index on Censorship joins Cartoonists Rights Network International (CRNI) to report that the internationally acclaimed cartoonist Musa Kart is again a prisoner this World Press Freedom Day.

In November 2016 Musa Kart was one of a number of staff from the Cumhuriyet newspaper arrested without charge. He and his colleagues’ subsequent months in Silivri prison would be described as unlawful by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, “being in contravention of articles 10, 11 and 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and of articles 14, 15 and 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights”.

In April 2017 he was formally indicted with “helping an armed terrorist organization while not being a member” and “abusing trust”, prosecutors stipulating a maximum sentence of twenty-nine years. His trial began in July 2017. His funny, excoriating opening statement is worth reading in full.

After twelve months of court proceedings (arduous litigation being a well-worn censorious tactic) Kart was eventually found guilty and sentenced to three years and nine months. The appeals lodged on behalf of all those who received shorter sentences during the Cumhuriyet trials failed in February this year. Kart was informed he would be required to go to prison for one year and sixteen days.

On April 25th he and five colleagues – board members Önder Çelik and M.Kemal Güngör, news director Hakan Kara, columnist Güray Öz and financial officer Emre İper – decided to hand themselves in at Kandıra prison, a typically dignified and brave gesture.

Musa’s ultimate incarceration represents the culmination of fifteen years of persecution by then prime minister, now President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who twice tried and twice failed to use court action to silence the cartoonist in 2005 and 2014.

As those who have followed recent history in Turkey will be aware, the attempted coup of July 2016 and the subsequent state of emergency provided Erdoğan the pretext required to round up many of his perceived enemies in academia, local government, the military, press and media. His victory in the April 2017 referendum, granting the president greater powers, and subsequent re-election in 2018 have only entrenched his position. In survey after survey Turkey remains the world’s number one jailer of journalists.

Kart is a past winner of CRNI’s Courage in Editorial Cartooning Award, was given the Cartooning For Peace Swiss Foundation’s Prix International du Dessin de Presse last year and is currently the subject of a retrospective exhibition at the Maison du Dessin de Presse, Morges. He formally retired from cartooning in December 2017.

The undersigned organizations join Index and CRNI in calling for the immediate release of Musa Kart and his five courageous colleagues and the dismissal of all charges against the criminalised former staff of Cumhuriyet. This World Press Freedom Day we express our solidarity with all those suffering in the protracted and unprecedented crackdown on freedom of expression in Turkey, and call for its end.

Cartoonists Rights Network International (CRNI)
Adil Soz – International Foundation for Protection of Freedom of Speech
Africa Freedom of Information Centre (AFIC)
ARTICLE 19
Bytes for All (B4A)
Center for Media Studies & Peace Building (CEMESP)
Child Rights International Network (CRIN)
Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
European Federation of Journalists (EFJ)
Free Media Movement
Independent Journalism Center (IJC)
Index on Censorship
International Federation of Journalists (IFJ)
International Press Institute (IPI) 
Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance
Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA)
Media Watch
Norwegian PEN
PEN America
PEN Canada
PEN International
Reporters Without Borders (RSF)
Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA)
South East European Network for Professionalization of Media (SEENPM)
South East Europe Media Organisation 
Vigilance for Democracy and the Civic State
World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers
Articolo 21
Civic Spaces Studies Association – Turkey
Danish PEN
European Centre for Press and Media Freedom
German PEN
Global Editors Network
Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso Transeuropa
Swedish PEN[/vc_column_text][vc_basic_grid post_type=”post” max_items=”4″ element_width=”6″ grid_id=”vc_gid:1556869431554-27d0cab8-ff70-3″ taxonomies=”55″][/vc_column][/vc_row]