MLSA
In a statement issued ahead of imprisoned journalist Alican Uludağ's first hearing, Amnesty International called for Uludağ's immediate and unconditional release and for the charges against him to be dropped. The organization called for the repeal of Articles 217/A, 299 and 301 of the Turkish Penal Code, which it said are used to silence journalists and create a deterrent effect on the opposition.
MLSA — Issuing a statement ahead of the first hearing of imprisoned journalist Alican Uludağ, to be held tomorrow, Amnesty International called for Uludağ's immediate and unconditional release. The organization called for the repeal of Articles 217/A, 299 and 301 of the Turkish Penal Code, which it said are used to silence journalists and create a deterrent effect on the opposition.
The first hearing in the case in which Deutsche Welle correspondent Alican Uludağ is tried in pretrial detention over 22 social media posts will be held on May 21 at the Ankara 57th Criminal Court of First Instance. Uludağ faces charges of "insulting the president," "publicly spreading misleading information" and "publicly denigrating members of the judiciary."
In its statement, Amnesty International said Uludağ was being tried because of his journalistic activities and described the charges against him as "groundless." The statement emphasized that pressure on journalists who report on matters of public concern must end.
Ruhat Sena Akşener, director of Amnesty International's Turkey branch, said, "All journalists and other media workers who are subjected to rights violations, criminalized and deprived of their freedom solely because of their journalistic activities must be released immediately."
Noting that Alican Uludağ was one of these journalists, Akşener said, "The authorities must release Alican Uludağ immediately and unconditionally, and the charges in this case must be dropped."
The statement also said that Article 217/A of the Turkish Penal Code, which sets out the offense of "publicly spreading misleading information"; Article 299, which sets out the offense of "insulting the president"; and Article 301, which sets out the offense of "denigrating the Turkish nation and the organs of the state," had been instrumentalized to obstruct freedom of expression.
Amnesty International argued that these articles are incompatible with Turkey's international human rights obligations and said they create a broad chilling effect, particularly on journalists and dissidents.
The statement also included data from the Justice Ministry. According to this, in 2024 alone, investigations were opened into more than 55,000 people on charges of "insulting the president" and "denigrating the Turkish state," and cases were launched against 17,895 people.
Amnesty International said it had examined the 22 posts that were made the subject of the accusation against Uludağ and stated that these posts should be assessed within the framework of freedom of expression protected under Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Uludağ was arrested on Feb. 20 on a charge of "insulting the president" by a ruling of the Istanbul 9th Criminal Judgeship of Peace. The indictment prepared by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office claimed that the offenses had been committed more than once and requested the application of the provisions on chain offenses.
