Turkey..taking advantage of Corona crisis to suppress journalists

According to Ahval, the Turkish government charges "causing fear and panic among the public" and journalists whom it targets because of their news reports, which could lead to a prison sentence of two to four years.

On March 18, Turkish police arrested two journalists in Partin after they reported that a local doctor had contracted the Coronavirus and accused them of fomenting "panic and fear among citizens."

Turkish police also summoned a number of journalists for questioning after they published articles on the virus, warning them of "the repercussions of continuing to intimidate citizens."

Responding to these arrests against the journalists, CPJ's Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, Golnoza saeed, said "Turkey's crackdown on the media has been escalating for years."

She added that the judiciary intimidate the social media users and the media to legally for their opinions that differ from the officially adopted narrative of the Corona pandemic.

The Turkish parliament passed a bill for releasing tens of thousands of prisoners to ease overcrowding in prisons and protect detainees from contracting the virus.

The Parliament announced on Twitter that "the bill became law after it was passed", and NGOs criticized excluding prisoners on "terrorism" charges, including journalists and political opponents.

The deputy speaker of the Turkish parliament said that president Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP) and its allied right-wing Nationalist Movement party supported the bill, which was passed by parliament by 279 to 51 votes.

On Wednesday, Turkey recorded more than 100 deaths of Coved-19 within 24 hours, amid an accelerated outbreak of the new Coronavirus.

The total number of casualties on Turkish soil is around 70,000 and 1,518 deaths.

A.J

ANHA