Journalist Merdan Yanardağ was sentenced to more than a year in prison on Thursday for publicly insulting the state’s security forces, the Deutsche Welle (DW) Turkish service reported.
Although not explicitly stated in the report, the sentence is believed to have been suspended due to its minimal length.
The charges came over statements made in a video titled “How has AKP’s ethics brought Turkey to this point?” which was published on TELE1’s YouTube channel on February 5, 2024. In the video Yanardağ expressed skepticism about the fairness of the May 14, 2023 general election. He argued that the election was not conducted under fair conditions and suggested that manipulation was involved.
Yanardağ criticized the use of state power, asserting that the gendarmes distributed propaganda brochures supporting the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). The brochures allegedly contained lies, such as claiming that the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) collaborated with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
The gendarmerie filed a complaint against Yanardağ due to these statements, and an investigation was launched by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s office.
Turkey, which suffers from a poor press freedom record, was ranked 158th out of 180 countries in the 2024 World Press Freedom Index by Reporters without Borders.
