In a distressing turn of events on Wednesday 6 December 2023, journalist İrfan Uçar was detained during a raid on his residence in Islahiye in Gaziantep /Antep, Türkiye / Turkey.
The allegations against Uçar, including “membership in an organization,” led to the confiscation of his documents, books, and a subsequent questioning about his professional activities.
Uçar, known for his past contributions to media outlets like now closed IMC TV and newspaper Özgür Gündem, had relocated to be with his family in the past one year. He has been a journalist since 1998. According to Uçar, during the police investigation, the police wanted to know more about his work, phone calls and some journalists he met in the past.
He was released on Thursday 7 December 2023, under judicial control with an international travel ban.
The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) strongly condemns the use of such measures and pressures against journalists, emphasizing the importance of safeguarding press freedom.
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.
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