CPJ joins call for Turkey to release arrested journalist Furkan Karabay
The Committee to Protect Journalists joined six other press freedom and free-speech advocacy organizations in a Wednesday, November 13, statement asking Turkish authorities to release recently arrested journalist Furkan Karabay.
Karabay, a reporter with the independent news site 10Haber, was detained on November 8 during a police raid in Istanbul and jailed by a court November 9 pending trial. A court document seen by Reuters said that the allegations against Karabay related to his social media posts on X, where he named the prosecutors investigating an opposition mayor.
“Karabay’s arrest is the latest example of the increasing criminalization of reporting on the judiciary,” the statement said. “These actions against journalists who are simply fulfilling their duty to inform the public are not only a violation of the public’s right to access information but also a breach of freedom of expression and press freedom, which are protected under the constitution and international agreements, particularly the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), to which Turkey is a signatory.”
You can read the full statement here.