Only 29 journalists are in jail, Turkish Justice Ministry says

ISTANBUL – Hürriyet Daily News

A group of journalists stage a protest against the jailing of their colleagues on the World Press Freedom Day.

Turkey’s Justice Ministry rejected a recently published list on the number of arrested journalists in the country, saying that the number 44 is inaccurate as 15 of these names are not in jail.

“Eighteen people were convicted, 11 are pending trial under arrest, 14 have been released in separate dates, and the records of one are not found in the prison data,” the Justice Ministry said in a statement, referring to the 44 people appearing in a list of jailed journalists in Turkey released by the Platform for Solidarity with Imprisoned Journalists.

The statement added that 28 journalists, who are still in jail, are linked to outlawed organizations, while another has committed espionage.

“Sixteen people are linked to the [outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party] PKK and the [Kurdistan Communities Union] KCK terror organization; six people are linked to the [outlawed Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party/Front] DHKP-C organization; three people are linked to the [illegal Marxist-Leninist Communist Party] MLKP/MK, two people are linked to the [banned Turkish Communist Party-Marxist Leninist] TKP (ML) TİKKO, and one person is linked to the İBDA-C,” said the press note.

The Platform for Solidarity with Imprisoned Journalists had released a statement on April 25, citing the names of 44 journalists and the names of the prisons they were serving time in, either after sentencing or while pending trial.