A new report released on Tuesday by the Turkish Journalists’ Association (TGC) has revealed that 47 journalists appeared in court in the first month of 2022.
According to the report the journalists were handed down a total of 751 years in prison. In addition, two journalists were arrested and five other were detained.
Rights groups routinely accuse Turkey of undermining media freedom by arresting journalists and shutting down critical media outlets, especially since President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan survived a failed coup in July 2016.
Turkey, which is among the top jailers of journalists in the world, was ranked 153rd out of 180 countries in the Reporters Without Borders 2021 World Press Freedom Index announced in April.
Most recently, Sedef Kabaş, a well-known television journalist, was arrested on January 22 for comments she made on air about Erdoğan on charges that she insulted the president.
Insulting the president is a crime that calls for a jail sentence of one to four years in Turkey.
Source:Stockholm Center for Freedom (SCF)
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