Aqil: The decision represents a restriction of press freedoms and intimidation for all Turkish media

selected: The Turkish regime uses the judiciary as a tool to achieve political goals at the expense of freedom of opinion and expression

Maat Foundation for Peace, Development and Human Rights condemns the decision of the Turkish court on Friday, December 27, to imprison six journalists for the opposition newspaper Sozjo, on charges related to terrorism and providing assistance to Fethullah Gulen, it is worth noting that the two prominent writers, Amin Kulasan and Necati Dogru, were sentenced to three years and six months in prison. The newspaper’s chief financial officer, Yonka Yusilan, news editor Yukil Ari and journalist Gokmen Ulu, were sentenced to two years in prison, and Matin Yilmaz, editor-in-chief of the newspaper, was sentenced to 3 years in prison.

It is worth noting that Turkey is the largest prison for journalists in the world, as it ranks 157 out of 180 countries in the world in the 2018 Press Freedom Index, as there are more than a hundred journalists in Turkish prisons, and the Turkish authorities have closed 189 different media outlets, including : 5 news agencies, 62 newspapers, 19 magazines, 14 radios, 29 TV channels, 29 publishing houses after the alleged coup of 15 July 2016.

In this context, Ayman Aqil, head of the Maat Foundation, stated that this decision represents a flagrant violation of Article 9 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which stipulates that people may not be arbitrarily arrested and Article 19 on the right to opinion and expression, considering that the decision represents a restriction on press freedoms and intimidation for all Turkish media Especially since the newspaper publishes articles critical of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the political system of the Justice and Development Party.

Meanwhile, Muhammad Mukhtar, a researcher at the Middle East Unit at the Maat Foundation, called on the Turkish authorities to stop their systematic violations against the press and journalists, especially since Sozjo is the second opposition newspaper to be targeted after the Cumhuriyet newspaper, stressing that the Turkish regime uses the judiciary as a tool to achieve political goals at the expense of freedom of opinion and expression.