Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA) has been running a trial monitoring program since 2018 in cooperation with numerous international civil society organizations. In the program, freedom of expression trials are monitored to ensure that they are up to international standards of fair trial.
The program continued in December 2021 with the assistance of the Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Seven journalists were sentenced to prison in December
In December, MLSA monitored 39 hearings of 38 trials in 9 different cities with 12 court monitors.
In the trials monitored in December, 209 people stood trial among which there were 81 journalists, 43 activists, 34 politicians and 16 students.
209 people who stood trial in December faced 58 charges. 60% of the charges individuals faced in December was terrorism-related charges. 54% of terrorism-related charges was the “making propaganda for a terrorist organization” charge. It was mostly journalists against whom this charge was leveled because of their news reports, articles and social media posts.
In December, “insulting the president” charge constituted 3% of the charges, whereas “insulting a public officer” charge constituted 12% of the charges.
In December, 7 journalists were sentenced to prison for 145months in total.
You can read the full report here.
Medya ve Hukuk Çalışmaları Derneği (MLSA) haber alma hakkı, ifade özgürlüğü ve basın özgürlüğü alanlarında faaliyet yürüten bir sivil toplum kuruluşudur. Derneğimiz başta gazeteciler olmak üzere mesleki faaliyetleri sebebiyle yargılanan kişilere hukuki destek vermektedir.
