A Turkish prosecutor has indicted Kurdish journalist Ceylan Şahinli for attending a commemoration for two colleagues killed in a Turkish drone strike in 2024, accusing her of violating the law on demonstrations and meetings.
According to the Mezopotamya news agency, the Suruç Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office filed the indictment over Şahinli’s participation in a commemoration held in the Suruç district of Şanlıurfa province on December 23, 2024. The event marked the death of journalists Nazım Daştan and Cihan Bilgin, who were killed three days earlier near the Tishrin Dam, east of Aleppo, while covering clashes between Ankara-backed forces and US-supported Kurdish fighters.
The Suruç Criminal Court of First Instance has accepted the indictment and is expected to set a date for the first hearing. If convicted, Şahinli could face a prison sentence of up to three years under Turkey’s Law No. 2911 on Meetings and Demonstrations.
Şahinli was previously detained in October 2022 along with 11 other Kurdish journalists and later tried on accusations of “membership in a terrorist organization” over alleged links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey and its Western allies. She was acquitted in July 2024.
Journalists in Turkey operate in an increasingly restrictive environment, particularly those reporting on politically sensitive issues or criticizing the government or its political allies. They are frequently targeted through prosecutions under laws criminalizing “insulting public officials,” “disinformation” and “terrorist propaganda.”
According to Expression Interrupted, a press freedom monitoring group, 33 journalists are currently behind bars in Turkey. The country’s deteriorating media landscape was further pointed out in the 2025 World Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), where it was ranked 159th out of 180 nations.
