Three Turkish journalists were handed down suspended five-month sentences on Wednesday for covering a 2019 demonstration in İstanbul in protest of the government’s removal of elected mayors in the country’s southeast, the Media and Law Studies Association reported.
Vedat Örüç, Taylan Öztaş and Tunahan Turhan were convicted under Turkey’s Law on Meetings and Demonstrations, which criminalizes participation in unauthorized public gatherings. The court ruled that they remained at the scene of the protest despite police warnings to disperse, violating provisions against unlawful assembly — even though they were there in a reporting capacity.
Defense attorneys maintained that the journalists were present solely to report on the protest. “My client is a journalist. He has consistently stated this from the start,” attorney Emine Özhasar, representing Örüç, said. “He was there to do his job.”
The demonstration took place on August 20, 2019 in Istanbul’s Kadıköy district and was part of a wave of protests following the Interior Ministry’s removal of elected mayors in Diyarbakır, Mardin and Van. The government alleged the mayors had ties to terrorism and replaced them with state-appointed trustees, prompting widespread backlash, particularly in Kurdish-majority areas.
The verdict was delivered at the 13th hearing of the case by the Istanbul Anadolu 76th Criminal Court of First Instance. The journalists were among 40 people charged with participating in an unlawful assembly and resisting law enforcement. While the court found them guilty of the former, it acquitted them of the latter, citing a lack of conclusive evidence.
The Turkish government has long been criticized for its heavy-handed approach toward journalists and media organizations. Independent reporting is often met with legal pressure, harassment or imprisonment, particularly when it challenges official narratives or covers politically sensitive issues. Journalists frequently face charges related to terrorism or defamation, and many trials result in lengthy legal proceedings that act as a deterrent to press freedom.
Turkey, which became the world’s biggest prison for journalists in 2018 during a state of emergency imposed after a coup attempt, was ranked 158th of 180 countries in the 2024 World Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders.
