Journalism organizations issue statement against sentencing of eight journalists

Journalism professional organizations issued a press statement on Saturday, July 6, at Şişhane Square in Istanbul, condemning the prison sentences handed down to eight journalists on July 3. The statement, signed by five journalism organizations, declared that penalizing journalists for their news reports criminalizes the profession.

The statement, titled "Defending Journalism," was released by the Dicle Fırat Journalists Association, DİSK-Basın İş, Mezopotamya Women Journalists Association, Turkish Journalists' Union, and the Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA). It emphasized that news reports should not be grounds for criminal charges and called for the reversal of the sentences.

The organizations asserted, "At a time when society needs the truth and news the most, we will never abandon our profession."

The full statement is available here.

Background

As part of an Ankara-based investigation, journalists from Mezopotamya Agency (MA) and JINNEWS, who were detained on October 29, 2022, and released on May 16, 2023, were sentenced to 6 years and 3 months in prison on July 3. The journalists sentenced include MA reporters Diren Yurtsever, Berivan Altan, Selman Güzelyüz, Hakan Yalçın, Emrullah Acar, Zemo Ağgöz, Deniz Nazlım, and JINNEWS reporter Öznur Değer, all convicted on charges of membership in a terrorist organization.