Turkey: The top country violating women journalists’ rights, again

* From the CFWIJ report

The Coalition for Women in Journalism (CFWIJ) has released its monthly report on violations of women journalists' rights across the world.

Throughout February 2022, the CFWIJ documented 33 cases of violations against women journalists, shows the "Press Freedom Status For Women Journalists". These violations included detentions, legal harassment and physical assaults in the field, among other attacks on press freedom and women journalists reporting from different parts of the world.

Listing the top three trends with regards to the violations of rights faced by women journalists, the Coalition has found:

"At least 16 women journalists faced legal harassment in Turkey, the United Kingdom, Zambia and Greece in February. Organized troll campaigns were launched against six women journalists in Canada and Pakistan. Four female reporters were detained in Turkey and Azerbaijan."

Identifying the "countries with the highest number of cases" as well, the CFWIJ has documented that "Turkey was the top country with 19 cases of legal harassment, defamation and detention recorded."

In Canada, CFWIJ documented seven cases of organized troll campaigns and sexist attacks. Azerbaijan ranked third with two cases of detention.

2 journalists sentenced to prison in Turkey

The report has shared the following information about Turkey:

• Journalist Selda Manduz was handed a suspended sentence of 18 months in prison on the charge of "spreading terrorist propaganda" by the Turkish court of appeals, which overruled Selda's acquittal on the same charge, following the prosecutor's appeal for her conviction.
• A court in Diyarbakır handed a suspended sentence of one year, six months and 22 days in prison to journalist Durket Süren on charges of "making terror propaganda" in a case related to her journalistic activities.

House raids and detentions of journalists

• Counter-terrorism officials raided journalist Nurcan Yalçın's house early morning on February 4 and arrested her without cause. The journalist was later released.
• Police officials raided Mesopotamia Agency's (MA) reporter Zeynep Durgut's house in Şırnak early on February 14 and took her into custody. She was released after four days in prison.
• Journalist Zeynep Kuray was deliberately targeted and prevented from filming the Peoples' Democratic Party's (HDP) demonstration in İstanbul.

Lawsuits against journalists

• Journalist Sultan Eylem Keleş was sued for reporting on protests by workers of a private company BIMEKS in September 2020. The first hearing of the case against Sultan will be held on September 13, 2022, in İstanbul. Continue reading
• The İstanbul Police Chief filed a criminal lawsuit against journalist Seyhan Avşar on charges of "insult and slander" after she reported on the alleged corruption of businessman Tuncay Çapraz and the police.
• Hazal Ocak, Olcay Büyüktaş Akça and two other journalists continue to face trial for a report published in Cumhuriyet newspaper in 2021.
• A court in İzmir acquitted Mesopotamia Agency reporter Ruken Demir in a terror-related case this month, ending a legal ordeal that spanned for over two years.
• The fourth hearing of the case against Jiyan News chief editor, Sonya Bayık, was held on February 10. The journalist faces trial on charges of "participating in banned gatherings" for reporting a protest against the flooding of Hasankeyf.
• Journalists İsminaz Temel and Havva Cuştan continue to face trial on terror-related charges in a case that criminalizes their journalistic activities.
• The eighth hearing of the case against veteran journalist Sedef Kabaş and 38 others for "defying law on the capital market" and "attempting to destabilize the economy" was held on February 22. Sedef could not appear to defend herself at the hearing as she has been imprisoned for more than a month in a relation to a separate case.
• The trial of former managing editor Reyhan Çapan and other Özgür Gündem newspaper's staffers for reporting about "self-governance" in Kurdish provinces continued this month with the 22nd hearing adjourned indefinitely.
• The 15th hearing of the trial against journalist Kibriye Evren on charges of being a member of a terrorist organization and spreading terrorist propaganda was held in Diyarbakır.

Lawsuits for damages

• The seventh hearing of Sözcü columnist Çiğdem Toker's trial was held in İstanbul. The journalist faces a lawsuit filed in retaliation to Çiğdem's article in Sözcü newspaper, which revealed budgetary reports of the Istanbul Municipality.
• Demirören Media Group filed a defamation lawsuit demanding 20 thousand Turkish Liras against Canan Kaya, Medya Koridor's editor-in-chief, for her journalistic coverage.
• The fourth hearing of the defamation case against journalist Hazal Ocak with a demand for compensation of 200 thousand TL was held in İstanbul.

(SD)