OSCE Media Freedom Representative worried about situation of journalists being kept in prison despite release law in Turkey, amid coronavirus concerns

VIENNA, 17 April 2020 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, expressed his concerns today about the fact that journalists in Turkey will in effect not benefit from a new law releasing inmates from prison, amid public health concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On 14 April, the Turkish Parliament allowed the release of thousands of prisoners, in a bid to protect them from the coronavirus by reducing overcrowding in prisons. The amendments approving this release excluded, among others, people held in pre-trial detention or convicted on terrorism-related charges. Since most journalists in prison fall within these categories, media workers have been excluded from this release measure and will remain behind bars.

“While I welcome the steps taken by the Turkish authorities to prevent overcrowding in prisons as a means of tackling the spread of the coronavirus, I am disappointed and worried that media professionals will not benefit from this measure. Journalists should not be kept in prison in relation to their work or be associated with terrorism. In the current circumstances, and faced with the health emergency in prisons, I urge the Turkish authorities to include journalists in this new measure and to release them,” Désir said.

The Representative recalled that in a letter sent to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, on 20 March, he stressed that “in the current circumstances, a humanitarian decision should be taken in favour of these detained journalists allowing them to reunite with their families.”

The Representative emphasized that there are many imprisoned journalists with certain health or age-related issues, which would put them at particular risk of contracting the virus.