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Fusun Erdogan, Turkey - Jailed since September 2006

Article ID:

17620

Day 1
Country: Turkey
Journalist: Fusun Erdogan
Media: Özgür Radyo (Radio Free)
Jailed since: September 8, 2006

Suggested Tweet:

Tweet this protest tinyurl.com/njru6f4 at @RT_Erdogan urging Turkey to release Fusun Erdogan, in jail since 2006. #FreethePress

Tweet this protest tinyurl.com/njru6f4 at @cbabdullahgul urging Turkey to release Fusun Erdogan, in jail since 2006. #FreethePress

Turkish journalist Fusun Erdogan was seized by plainclothes police from the middle of a crowded street in the city of Izmir in September 2006, unaware of where she was going, or what her crime was. Two years later she found out she was accused of being a member of the outlawed Marxist-Leninist Communist Party (MLKP). Her hearing persisted for another five years – while she remained confined to a prison cell outside of Istanbul – until she was finally convicted in early November 2013 - along with three other journalists - to life in prison without parole, plus 300 years.

Share our protest letter at tinyurl.com/njru6f4

Erdogan was accused of being a leader of an illegal organization, which she denies, and for “attempting to change the constitutional order by force.” However, she says that police planted evidence and that no concrete links could be found in the 300-page indictment tying the journalist to her alleged crimes. The truth: she is a journalist and the founder of the radio station Özgür Radyo (Radio Free), which is known to be critical of the government.

In a letter from the Gebze Women's Prison she wrote: “In reality, there was only one real reason for our arrest: police [were] trying to intimidate members of the progressive, independent, democratic and alternative media.”

Turkey was the leading jailer of journalists for the past two years, until the courts released eight journalists at the end of March 2014. However, their charges have not been dropped entirely and the threat of jail still looms over many journalists in Turkey. In 2013, there were 40 journalists behind bars. Many receive hefty sentences and the country’s anti-terrorism laws allow defendants to be detained for lengthy periods before being formally charged. The Turkish government has waged an intense war against freedom of expression and at the personal behest of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Twitter and YouTube were recently blocked.

Suggested Tweet:

Tweet this protest tinyurl.com/njru6f4 at @RT_Erdogan urging Turkey to release Fusun Erdogan, in jail since 2006. #FreethePress

Tweet this protest tinyurl.com/njru6f4 at @cbabdullahgul urging Turkey to release Fusun Erdogan, in jail since 2006. #FreethePress

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