Quarterly report reveals increasing press freedom violations in Turkey скачать в хорошем качестве

Quarterly report reveals increasing press freedom violations in Turkey

Investigations were launched against 26 journalists in the second quarter of 2015 while 19 others stood trial and faced possible jail terms, a report released by the Contemporary Journalists Association (ÇGD) has revealed, in yet another sign of the weakening of press freedoms in Turkey. At a news conference in Ankara on Sunday, the ÇGD released its second quarterly “Media Report” of 2015, which includes figures about legal action taken against journalists in the months of April, May and June in addition to acts of censorship and physical and verbal attacks faced by journalists. The news conference was attended by ÇGD President Ahmet Abakay, the ÇGD's Ankara branch president Can Güleryüzlü and press members. Reading a statement on behalf of the ÇGD, Ankara branch executive board member Çınar Özer said that government pressure on the media had greatly intensified over the past three months, during which Turkey witnessed an election campaign by political parties in the run up to the June 7 general election. Özer said that the reason for the growing pressure on the media was to influence the political preferences of the public. “That's why many publications critical of the government's actions that are not lawful and transparent were speedily banned and investigations were launched against journalists who wrote reports after they were branded ‘terrorists' or ‘traitors,' and journalists were singled out in election rallies with a populist discourse that is usual for election periods,” said Özer. The run-up to the June 7 general election saw intense campaigning and heavy use of state resources by the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Although he is constitutionally required to be impartial, Erdoğan -- the former leader of the AK Party -- took part in the party's election campaign and asked for support for it, despite widespread criticism. Giving some figures about press freedom violations in the past three months, Özer said that in addition to new investigations, trials into 61 journalists including correspondents, managing editors and editors-in-chief continued in this period. In some of these trials, suspects were given fines, some were given suspended prison sentences, some were acquitted and the trials of some suspects were adjourned to a later date. The ÇGD report reveals that 19 journalists including three foreign nationals were detained and one was arrested over the past three months, during which 12 physical attacks took place against press organizations and members. In addition, a number of journalists who are seen to be critical of the government faced accreditation bans preventing them from covering events, particularly those attended by government officials and Erdoğan. 5 July 2015