Turkish government’s crackdown on critical journalists continued with the detention of pro-Kurdish journalist Selahattin Aslan. Journalist Aslan was detained by police at Istanbul’s Sabiha Gökçen Airport on Monday night.
Journalist’s lawyer Hüseyin Çalışçı stated that Aslan was detained by airport police on his arrival from Diyarbakır to Istanbul on Monday night. It is reported that journalist Aslan has been held at the Istanbul Department of Police and a confidentiality order has been issued on the investigation about him.
Meanwhile, in an indictment prepared by a prosecutor for arrested Jin News Agency (JINHA) reporter Aysel Işık, her critical social media posts and her news for JINHA were showed as crimes. JINHA was shut down by the AKP government.
Journalist Işık, who is also a student of Şırnak University, was detained while covering a story in Şırnak province on Nov. 21, 2016. She was remanded in custody as the court cited her social media posts as crime and ruled for her arrest. Later, journalist Işık was transferred from Şırnak Prison to Şanlıurfa Type T Prison No. 2. Işık’s first hearing is going to be held on March 1 at Şırnak 2nd High Criminal Court.
According to a recent report released by the Stockholm Center for Freedom (SCF), 191 journalists are either convicted and serving time in prison or jailed in pre-trial, and the most of the journalists have not even seen an indictment against them. The report also stated that 92 journalists are wanted for arrest but remain at large either in Turkey or abroad. The SCF has also said that the number of media organizations seized and shut down by the government has reached 189.
Feb. 16, 2017
