Nedim Türfent
Kurdish reporter and poet Türfent was arrested in May 2016 and sentenced to 8 years in prison on terrorism charges. During pretrial interrogations, he was tortured and forced to… More
İlhan Sami Çomak
Kurdish poet Çomak was arrested in 1994 and sentenced to life in prison for membership in the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party. While in prison, he has published eight books… More
Stella Nyanzi
Dr. Nyanzi was imprisoned on cybercrime charges in 2018 for writing a poem she posted online using President Museveni’s birth as a metaphor to criticize his repressive rule. She… More
Mustafa Erkan Acar
Acar, an author and editor for Zaman, a newspaper forced to close after the failed 2016 coup, was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in prison in 2018 after a mass… More
Cemal Azmi Kalyoncu
Kalyoncu was detained in the crackdown following the failed 2016 coup. His writing and tweets were used as evidence of terrorism charges against him, resulting in a six and… More
Bayram Kaya
Kaya, who exposed the complicity of the Turkish intelligence service in the murder of journalist Hrant Dink, was detained in a sweep of journalists following the failed 2016 coup.… More
Abdullah Kılıç
Police detained Kılıç in July 2016 in the direct aftermath of the failed coup against the government of President Erdogan. Kılıç, a columnist, was accused of being a follower… More
Emre Soncan
Foreign military affairs correspondent and author Soncan was arrested in a purge of suspected followers of exiled preacher Fethullah Gülen, who was blamed for the July 2016 attempted coup.… More
Mümtaz’er Türköne
Police detained Türköne, a columnist for the daily Zaman, as part of a purge of suspected Gülenists after the failed July 2016 coup. Türköne was sentenced in 2018 to… More