A total of 28 journalists were arrested and over 150 were investigated in the first three months of 2025 in Turkey, the website “Turkish Minute“ reported, citing a study on freedom of expression and the state of the press in Turkey, prepared by the media freedom monitoring group “Expression Interrupted“, BTA reported.
According to the study, in the first three months of 2025, the Turkish authorities conducted investigations against a total of 157 journalists from the country in 90 separate cases. A total of 32 of the cases were concluded during this period, with 19 of them resulting in arrest, and in the rest various legal measures were imposed.
During this period, 28 journalists were sentenced to prison for a total of 41 years and one month, while the Turkish Prosecutor's Office has issued a total of 25 indictments and launched 10 new investigations against media representatives.
According to the report, the charges against Turkish journalists are most often related to “membership in a terrorist organization“ and “propaganda in favor of a terrorist organization“, and the top positions are also “insulting public figures“, “insulting the president“ and “spreading disinformation“.