The Dicle Fırat Journalists Association (DFG) has released a report on the number of violations against journalists in October this year.
According to the Report on Violations of Journalists’ Rights, the Mesopotamia Agency reporters Adnan Bilen, Cemil Uğur, JinNews reporter Şehriban Abi and journalist Nazan Sala were detained and then arrested in October. The arrests came after the journalists reported that two citizens had been thrown from a military helicopter in Van (Wan), Turkey.
Overall, four journalists were arrested and 91 appeared in court on October.
‘Journalism is not a crime’
The report stated that journalists were detained over non-criminal accusations, and called for all imprisoned journalists to be released. “Making news, revealing the facts, releasing truths to public – journalism is not a crime” declared the report. In addition, 42 news website and nine web portals were blocked after court decisions.
It was stated in the report that not only were there attempts to silence journalists, but anyone who aimed to express their ideas on digital media were also supressed. The DFG stated in the report that the government in Turkey was scared of journalists and so they established media in favour of the government.
The following data illustrates the situation in Turkey: during October, 11 journalists were detained, four were arrested, four were threatened, four were murdered, three were blocked from reporting, two were indicted, five were sued, five were sentenced to seven years and 11 months in prison and fined 3,650 turkish lira.
