- After the first day of the trial, nine Kurdish journalists are released. Just over half a year have been condemned to "terrorism". In total, eleven journalists in Ankara prison are accused of belonging to the terrorist organisation.
The first trial session against ten journalists from various independent media ended on Tuesday with the release of nine members, all but one: Hamdullah Bayram
The Supreme Court has determined that a journalist's workplace cannot be the sole reason for his arrest, on suspicion of being a "member of the terrorist organization". The lawyer for journalists is calling for the release of all, as the Kurdish agency ANF has received.
The Hearing decides to separate the file of Hamdullah Bayram and meet with another summary. Mesopotamia News Agency and JinNews will continue their research and this latest summary is related to the topic. The trial will continue until 5 July 2023. Journalist Hamdullah Bayram was arrested on 20 March 2023 in the same investigation.
Reporters Without Borders invites the Turkish authorities to "stop instrumentalizing justice to pursue the opposition press", according to the blog Kurdistan Au Feminin.
Attacks on freedom of the press are frequent in Turkey, and especially in Kurdistan, dependent on Turkey, as we have also discussed here, here or here, in ARGIA, to name three examples. The report on the Kurdish newspaper Azadiya Welat, closed by the Turkish police, is also available on the net: the free-press martiris.
