A Turkish court has jailed 16 Kurdish journalists and media workers pending trial. They were detained last week on charges of spreading terrorist propaganda. Photo: Internet They were held in custody for eight days in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir. However, no formal charges have been brought against them. According to Demiroren and other Turkish […]
A Turkish court has jailed 16 Kurdish journalists and media workers pending trial. They were detained last week on charges of spreading terrorist propaganda.
Photo: InternetThey were held in custody for eight days in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir. However, no formal charges have been brought against them.
According to Demiroren and other Turkish media outlets, five other journalists avoided prison, although they were detained alongside the others on June 8.
The German portal Deutsche Welle, citing its sources in Turkey, reports that all those detained were Kurds. It also cites the Anadolu agency, stating that they supported the Kurdistan Workers’ Party.
Turkey has imprisoned more reporters in the past decade than most other countries, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Additionally, several media groups condemned the arrests last week as “ruthless,” reports Reuters.
Among those detained were Serdar Altan and the head of the Dicle Firat Journalists Association, as well as the head of Jin News Safiye Alagas and the editor of the Mezopotamya news agency Aziz Oruk.
Following the journalists’ detention, a number of Kurdish activists, civil society representatives, media members, and human rights defenders announced plans to hold protests to demand their release.