Turkey, a dungeon for journalists

Despite campaigns for press freedom, World Press Freedom Day on May 3 came to highlight dire violations against journalists in Turkey.

COVID-19 has brought additional fears for journalists behind bars. Last week, Turkey entered its second lockdown but overcrowding and unsanitary facilities has been a concern long before the pandemic that already posed a serious health threat to Turkey's prison population.

According to Amnesty International, brave journalists across Turkey continue to do their job in a climate of fear as the authorities attempt to curtail all independent journalism and silence critical voices.

"'For journalists, Turkey has become a dungeon" says journalist Hakkı Boltan. His organisation - the Free Journalists Association – was ironically shut down in November 2016.

A month ago, the USA called Turkey out over a series of 'significant human rights issues', ranging from allegations of arbitrary killings and torture to the jailing of tens of thousands of critical voices, including political opponents, lawyers, journalists and human rights defenders.

Last month, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen met with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and stated that " Turkey must respect international human rights rules and standards" .

Turkey is among the world's biggest jailers of journalists for the fifth year in a row, and was ranked 153 out of 180 countries in the newly published World Press Freedom Index.