An access block has been imposed on the Independent Turkish news website as per the administrative measure implemented by the Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK).

Noting that “the free flow of news and information is more essential than ever amid pandemic,” the IPI is documenting media freedom violations by region. While six violations were reported from Turkey in March, there have been two violations in April so far.

Underlining that 17-year-old prisoner Ali Erdoğan may have been killed or driven to death, HDP İzmir MP Kemalbay has raised concerns over the policy of impunity for the violations of rights committed in prisons.

Constitutional Court has rejected HDP Group Deputy Chair Danış-Beştaş’s application regarding the violations of rights committed in Şırnak’s Cizre during the period of curfews on the ground of lack of venue and not exhausting all legal remedies.

The request for release of arrested journalists Ferhat Çelik, Aydın Keser, Barış Pehlivan, Barış Terkoğlu, Hülya Kılınç and Murat Ağırel has been rejected. Çelik and Keser are not mentioned by name in the judgement.

A criminal case has been filed over a report on Cumhuriyet that said the police didn't act despite receiving a tip on two people involved in the bomb attack.

The request for release of attorney Muhsin Bilal for Selçuk Mızraklı has been rejected. The attorney previously requested his client’s release as his chronic heart disease poses a risk to him in prison amid coronavirus pandemic.

The articles foreseeing restrictions on social media have been withdrawn from the 62-article omnibus bill, which is also expected to ban lay-offs for 3 months. “They have withdrawn it for now. They will bring it up at the first opportunity,” says HDP MP Paylan.

In a written statement released by the UNICEF, it has been noted that “hundreds of thousands of children currently detained in countries around the world are at grave risk of contracting COVID-19.”

Social media companies, the US, the EU and countries and international bodies that champion free speech, as well as social media users in Turkey, should be vocal and unequivocal on calling on Turkey to drop it.

According to a notice published on the Official Gazette today, private hospitals can no longer request patient shares or any other extra fees from patients treated for novel coronavirus.

The number of deaths that comes before your eyes from a part of the world every evening and keeps increasing is, in fact, beyond being a mere number. Each one of them is a world in itself, a world that has stories about itself and the lives it has touched.