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 Orman
In October 2019, Orman was arrested for online criticism of Türkiye's invasion of southwestern Kurdistan. He was charged with spreading terrorist propaganda and released weeks later on appeal. Convicted… More
Bülent Şık
A writer, food engineer, and environmental activist, Şık was indicted in 2018 after he wrote articles discussing the results of a government study of pollution. In 2019, he was… More
Çayan Demirel
Award-winning filmmaker Demirel was sentenced in 2019 to nearly 5 years in prison for “propagandizing for a terrorist organization” after screening Bakur, a film he co-directed with Ertuğrul Mavioğlu,… More
Hrant Dink
In January 2007, Dink was murdered in Istanbul by a 17-year-old Turkish nationalist with the help of police. Prior to his death, Dink was an outspoken critic of Türkiye’s… More
Ertuğrul Mavioğlu
Veteran journalist Mavioğlu was sentenced in 2019 to nearly 5 years in prison for “propagandizing for a terrorist organization” after screening Bakur, a film he co-directed with Çayan Demirel,… More
Ahmet Nesin
Nesin, a writer involved in free expression issues in Türkiye, was arrested after standing in solidarity with and serving as a 'guest editor' for Özgür Gündem, a pro-Kurdish newspaper… More
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