About two weeks after the Turkish Parliament passed a law New law against disinformation and fake newsthe country’s authorities arrested at least 11 journalists – confirming fears of journalists who predicted increased pressure on the press.
The arrests came Tuesday (25) after police went to journalists’ homes in the provinces of Ankara, Istanbul, Van, Diyarbakır, Urfa and Mardin as part of “terrorism-related” investigations. The operation was carried out by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Even media workers in exile are not safe: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) denounced that a government-supporting newspaper had uncovered the whereabouts of journalists who had left the country to escape persecution, exposing them to risks even outside of Turkey.
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Journalists targeted by the government in Turkey
In addition to the journalists’ homes, two newsrooms containing pro-Kurdish vehicles were also searched by the authorities, and computers, files and work materials were seized.
The newsrooms of the Mesopotamian (MA) news agency and the Jin News website were the targets of the prosecutor’s operation.
According to MA, police raided the building in the early hours of Tuesday morning, when there was still no one in the vehicle.
Authorities searched the newsroom for six hours and seized five computers, two hard drives, physical files, notebooks with journalist’s notes, and several books.
At the same time, the agents went to the journalists’ homes from both vehicles. According to the Turkish Press Colleagues Union (DİSK Havzası-İş), they were detained by violence, thrown on the ground and handcuffed with a gun pointed at their hands.
The arrested journalists were: Diren Yurtsever, Selman Güzelyüz, Emrullah Acar, Hakan Yalçın, Berivan Altan, Zemo Ağgöz, Ceylan Şahinli, Mehmet Günhan (former correspondent intern in Mesopotamia); and Jin Haber’s Habibe Eren, Öznur Değer and Derya Ren.
After their arrest, a 24-hour suspension was issued for the suspects, who were prevented from meeting with their lawyers during this period.
????A 24-hour restriction was imposed on the investigation of detained journalists. Journalists were laid on the ground, kept in handcuffs, journalists were seated and guns were pointed at journalists.
We are silent, we are not afraid, we are with us. pic.twitter.com/6O7QvMbsEr
— DİSK Basın-İş (@Disk_Basin_is) 25 October 2022
On October 13, Turkey’s parliament passed a law that has been widely criticized by experts and members of civil society and could sentence journalists and social media users to up to three years in prison for “fake news”.
Unions and international organizations say the law provides a framework for “pervasive censorship of online information.”
As a result, in Turkey, which changed legislation on the eve of the 2023 general elections, journalists found guilty of deliberately publishing “disinformation and fake news” could be imprisoned.
Also Read | Turkey approves law that could send journalists to prison for ‘disinformation and fake news’
“Turkish authorities have once again arrested several journalists as part of a secret court-ordered investigation,” the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said in a statement. He must be released immediately and Turkey must stop harassing the Kurdish media with baseless accusations about their journalism.”
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the European Federation condemned the imprisonment of journalists in a joint statement.
“We are very concerned that this is happening just weeks after the new disinformation law was passed,” they said. “We call for the immediate release of journalists and urge the authorities to stop the pressure on our colleagues,” he said.
Journalists in exile also targeted in Turkey
Weeks before the crackdown on pro-Kurdish journalists, the main newspaper Sabah, which is allied with the Turkish government, disclosed the whereabouts of at least three exiled journalists living abroad. According to CPJ, separate reports published in September and October portrayed journalists as “runaway criminals.”
All three journalists are wanted by Turkish authorities on terrorism-related charges, according to the committee.
In late September, Sabah published a story about the Turkish journalist in exile, Cevheri Güven, revealing her city and construction site in Germany. In the news, the publication accused Güven of making videos criticizing the government on social media.
Also Read | Murder of journalist Khashoggi in Turkey to be tried in Saudi Arabia, Turkish justice decides
In early October, the pro-government newspaper revealed the address of Abdullah Bozkurt, a Turkish journalist in exile living in Sweden. In the report, it was claimed that Bozkurt was the “mentor” of the murder of Russia’s Ambassador to Turkey Andrey Karlov in Ankara in 2016, and that the journalist had escaped from Russian intelligence.
Last week, Sabah published another news story describing the address of journalist Bülent Keneş, who also lives in Sweden. He was accused of living a “luxury life” abroad after fleeing Turkey to participate in the 2016 coup attempt.
“Creating the locations of Turkish journalists in exile by the pro-government media is an unethical and irresponsible act that can cause serious harm,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia coordinator.
“Targeting journalists using pro-government media is an unacceptable measure that puts lives at great risk, especially given the history of physical attacks on large numbers of Turkish journalists living in exile.”
The persecution of journalists living in exile is unprecedented. A British citizen of Pakistani descent was hired to kill Pakistani blogger Ahmad Waqass Goraya, who was exiled to the Netherlands in 2021 due to threats in his country.
He was tried in England in January and sentenced to life imprisonment in March.
Also Read | British citizen convicted of trying to kill Pakistani blogger in Netherlands faces life imprisonment
source: Noticias
