ISTANBUL (AP) – Dozens of Turkish demonstrators gathered in Istanbul on Tuesday to protest the arrests of two journalists and an academic on charges of disseminating “terrorist propaganda.” A fourth journalist was released after a brief detention.
Protesters chanted “a free press cannot be silenced” and “arrests, oppression cannot intimidate us.” Others held up a banner that read: “Thinking cannot be jailed.”
The demonstration comes a day after a Turkish court ordered the pre-trial arrest of Reporters Without Borders’ Turkey representative Erol Onderoglu, journalist Ahmet Nesin and academic Sebnem Korur Fincanci.
The three had participated in a solidarity campaign in support of Ozgur Gundem, a pro-Kurdish publication subject to multiple investigations and lawsuits.
Press freedom advocates warn that freedom of expression has dramatically declined in Turkey. More than a dozen journalists are in prison, although the government insists they have been jailed for criminal activity, not journalistic work.