MLSA TV - As pressure on journalists continues to intensify in Turkey, one of the most visible tools of this pressure remains court-imposed access bans. The rapid removal of news reports—especially those of significant public interest—by the Criminal Judgeships of Peace is widely seen as a serious violation of press freedom and freedom of expression. Journalists emphasize that these court decisions amount to de facto censorship.
Appearing as a guest on the program Çetele, hosted by Onur Öncü and broadcast on MLSA TV, journalist İsmail Arı spoke about the increasing judicial pressure on journalists and the censorship of news reports. Arı, a reporter for the independent newspaper BirGün, said he can no longer remember the number of news stories that have been subjected to access bans by the Criminal Judgeships of Peace, noting that the current situation clearly reveals the arbitrary nature of the system.
Arı underlined that most access ban decisions are issued without any genuine examination, stating that the judges do not actually review the applications. “I absolutely do not believe that judges at the Criminal Judgeships of Peace truly examine the applications for access bans on news reports,” Arı said. “For example, on October 11, an MP from the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) submitted 200 links to the Criminal Judgeship of Peace, and on the same day, an access ban was issued for all of those links.”
Drawing attention to the pressure faced by journalists, Arı offered a striking comparison about the judicial practices in Turkey:
“In this country, tweeting is more dangerous than firing a bullet. Someone who fires a bullet stays in jail for three months, someone who tweets stays in prison for six months. In Turkey, 72 percent of society says they don’t trust the judiciary. That’s an incredible figure. Seven out of every 10 people are saying, ‘I don’t trust this judiciary.’”
The full episode of Çetele, featuring İsmail Arı as a guest, is available to watch on MLSA TV’s YouTube channel.
