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 November 2021 with the assistance of the Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Journalists, activists, students and politicians stood trial in November
In November, MLSA monitored 41 hearings of 38 trials in 8 different cities with 10 court monitors.
In this period, 473 people stood trial in the hearings monitored. Among 473 people, there were 130 journalists, 124 activists, 89 students and 22 politicians.
In November, 473 people faced 70 charges in 19 different categories. 34% of these charges were terrorism related charges which were frequently leveled against journalists, activists and politicians.
6% of the charges leveled against the defendants in trials monitored were “insulting the president” charges.
In November, four people received prison sentences up to 8 years in total. 2 people; one journalist and one author, were given prison sentences more than 5 years for terrorism related charges, whereas an author and a journalist received prison sentences up to 2 years for “insulting the president” charges.
You can find 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.
