South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) strongly condemns the detention of several journalists in Turkey. On 25 July 2023, T24 editor Sibel Yükler, Mezopotamya Agency (MA) reporters Delal Akyüz and Fırat Can Arslan, Bianet editor Evrim Kepenek, and freelance journalist Evrim Deniz were apprehended. Their detention was reportedly linked to their social media posts concerning the reassignment of a prosecutor and a judge who were involved in a recent court case involving 18 journalists in Diyarbakır.
While four of the journalists were conditionally released, Arslan remained in detention.
The arrests took place one day after Turkey’s “Day of Struggle for Press Freedom,” and the journalists are accused of “disclosing, publishing, and targeting a public official on anti-terror duties” under Article 6 (1) of the Anti-Terror Law.
The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) calls on Turkish authorities to cease the misuse of anti-terror laws and halt the arbitrary and systematic detention of journalists, safeguarding media freedom and freedom of expression in the country.
More in a joint statement:
South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) is a regional non-governmental, non-profit network of editors, media executives and leading journalists in Southeast, South, East and Central Europe. SEEMO members are in Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Moldova (with the territory of Transdnestria), Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Türkiye / Turkey, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. Austria, Italy, Vatican and San Marino have a special status in SEEMO. SEEMO has over 3000 individual members, and additional media as corporate members.
#fyp #mediafreedom #seemo #freespeech #southeasteuropemediaorganisation #ngo #journalist #journalistunderattack #turkey #journalistarrested #journalistinjail #journalistattacked#SEEMO #pressfreedom #mediafreedom #freemedia