The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has ruled that Turkey violated investigative journalist Müyesser Yıldız’s freedom of expression by holding her in pretrial detention for almost five months in 2020 over reporting on Turkey’s military involvement in Libya.
The October 6 judgment in Müyesser Uğur v. Türkiye, registered under Yıldız’s legal surname, found a violation of Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights and awarded her 7,500 euros in non-pecuniary damages.
The case concerned six articles published on OdaTV, a Turkish news website, and telephone conversations with a source. Prosecutors accused Yıldız of disclosing confidential information relating to state security.
Police detained Yıldız, then OdaTV’s Ankara news editor, on June 8, 2020. She was jailed pending trial three days later. Her lawyer, Erhan Tokatlı, said the investigation initially concerned espionage allegations before the accusation was changed to revealing state secrets.
One article identified the Turkish commander assigned to coordinate military operations in Libya and provided details about his career, background and language skills.
Yıldız claimed that the Turkish courts should have weighed press freedom against the claimed security concerns, taking account of the role that reporting on state secrets can play in a democratic society.
According to the court’s official summary, the criminal proceedings against her remain ongoing.
The Ankara 26th High Criminal Court released her at her first hearing on November 9, 2020. The proceedings also involved TELE1 journalist İsmail Dükel and an army sergeant.
In March 2021 an Ankara court sentenced Yıldız to more than three years in prison for obtaining and revealing state secrets. The court suspended execution of the sentence but kept her travel ban in place. Turkey’s Constitutional Court subsequently found no rights violation in her detention in 2022.
The Strasbourg ruling comes amid growing pressure on journalists in Turkey through criminal investigations, repeated detentions and restrictions on access to independent news outlets.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), an international press freedom organization, warned this week that Turkey was using its disinformation law to criminalize independent reporting.
It documented 16 arrests and detentions involving 14 journalists under the provision between the beginning of 2026 and September 4, with two journalists targeted twice.
CPJ said prolonged proceedings and repeated detentions can discourage reporting even when cases end without a conviction.
It urged Turkey to repeal the law and release journalists imprisoned under it.
Turkey was ranked 163rd among 180 countries and territories in Reporters Without Borders’ 2026 World Press Freedom Index, down four places from 2025.
The organization says independent media face sustained political, legal and financial pressure, while criminal provisions covering terrorism, disinformation and insulting the president are regularly used against journalists.
This article is republished from Turkish Minute.
