Omnibus bill to pose ‘yet another obstacle to people’s access to news in Turkey’

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The executive board of the Turkish Journalists' Association (TGC) has made a statement about the omnibus bill that has been submitted to the Parliament by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and foresees new prison sentences for journalists in the country.

Referring to the bill foreseeing up to 3 years in prison for the journalists who report news "that damage the reputation of companies", the TGC has underlined that this legal amendment will prevent citizens from exercising their right to access news. The TGC has briefly said:

"A systematic attempt is made by the government to hinder the freedom of press and expression, which is a Constitutional right.

"Lastly, signed by 85 ruling party MPs, an omnibus bill was submitted to the Parliament. According to the bill, a prison sentence of 3 years is the case for the news that will damage the reputation of companies.

"According to the article that has been added to the omnibus bill, even when the names of the companies are not mentioned, the reporting of news that will lead to hesitancy in society about the trustworthiness of the companies and undermine society's trust in them is censored".

Underlining that "there is yet another attempt to hinder the free movement of news about the current social and economic problems" in the country, the TGC has argued that with the related omnibus bill, "economy reporters are shown a stick to be beaten with ahead of the elections".

"If this article is passed, there will be yet another obstacle to citizens' access to news," the Association has stressed, calling on the ruling and opposition parties to withdraw the related legislative proposal "which is to deal a new blow to freedom of press and expression".

The omnibus bill prepared by AKP Malatya MP Bülent Tüfenkci and signed by 85 AKP MPs in total has 39 articles.

According to Article 34, even when the names of the related companies are not indicated in the news reports, the journalists who make news that would damage the reputation of companies may be sentenced to 1 to 3 years in prison and a judicial fine for a thousand days to two thousand days. If a private or public damage occurs as a result of such acts, the bill foresees that the penalty to be imposed will be increased by one sixth. (HA/SD)