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May 02, 2025 – Turkey –
Turkey has escalated its use of legal mechanisms to suppress journalistic freedom, employing tactics such as house arrests, travel bans, and judicial controls to silence dissenting voices. These measures, initially intended as alternatives to pre-trial detention, have increasingly become punitive tools against journalists, often imposed for activities like social media posts or political commentary. Lawyer Veysel Ok criticizes this trend, noting that such restrictions are frequently applied without meeting the legal conditions for imprisonment, effectively sidelining journalists from their profession for extended periods.
In a notable incident, journalists Timur Soykan and Murat Agirel were detained on charges of threats and blackmail, which their respective newspapers assert are retaliatory actions linked to their investigative reporting. Their arrests, coinciding with mass protests following the controversial imprisonment of Istanbul’s mayor, have drawn condemnation from media watchdogs and opposition figures, who view these actions as attempts to intimidate and silence government critics.
The broader context reveals a pattern of legal harassment against journalists in Turkey. The “Weaponising the Law” report by the Thomson Reuters Foundation and Columbia University’s Tow Center identifies eight key legal threats faced by journalists globally, including defamation, SLAPPs, and charges related to espionage and cybercrime. The report highlights that nearly half of surveyed journalists have encountered legal threats due to their work, underscoring a global trend of using legal systems to stifle press freedom.
Turkey’s aggressive stance on media freedom has led to its ranking of 159th out of 180 countries in the Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index. The international community continues to express concern over these developments, emphasizing the need to uphold journalistic integrity and freedom of expression.
Reference –
https://www.dw.com/en/turkey-legal-control-as-a-weapon-against-journalists/a-72409239
