The Dicle Fırat Journalists Association (DFG) has published its report “Right Violations Against Journalists for May 2022.”
Eleven journalists were detained, 11 journalists were ill-treated, and access to 14 media outlets was blocked in May, according to the report.
The report emphasises that women journalists are specifically targeted and subjected to violence.
In just one month, more than ten women journalists were systematically threatened, the DFG said.
The Justice and Development Party and Nationalist Movement Party (AKP-MHP) coalition government aims to completely abolish press freedom with its ‘Disinformation Law,’ which includes new sanctions against internet media, the DFG stated.
The DFG demanded the withdrawal of this bill, which has already been discussed in a parliamentary commission, and that the government should bring an end to unlawful practices against journalists, adding:
“We call on journalists and press vocational organisations who do not accept this trend to strengthen their solidarity. The current government will not be able to achieve results with its anti-democratic approach. Real journalists have never asked for permission from those in power.”
The rights violations figures in the DFG’s May 2022 report are as follows:
Violations on the right to life and safety
Journalists detained: 11
Journalists subjected to ill-treatment: 11
Journalists threatened: 10
Journalists blocked from news coverage: 11 incidents
Violations against journalists in prisons: 1
Violations of freedom of speech and expression
Journalists under investigation: 4
Journalists prosecuted: 5
Journalists subjected to penalties: 4
Number of detained journalists (as of 5 June 2022): 60
Violations of socioeconomic rights
Journalists dismissed: 1
Blocking and censorship
RTÜK (Radio and Television Supreme Council) Penalties: 4
Broadcast ban decisions: 6
Access ban
Websites closed : 8
News outlets with access ban: 14
Social media content with access ban: 3
