Journalist Erin Erdem, a former deputy of Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) was detained by police on Friday on terrorism charges.
According to a report by Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency, Erdem was detained in capital Ankara after the İstanbul Chief Prosecutor’s Office issued a warrant for him on charges of “being a member of an armed terrorist organization.”
The detention comes after CHP’s Party Caucus on Thursday, during which the issue of referring some party members to the disciplinary commission was discussed. Erdem was also among the list of members facing disciplinary action, but the party took no disciplinary action against him.
Erdem was previously also detained by police by claiming that he tried to leave Turkey after his party failed to re-nominate him for Parliament in the June 24 elections, which will result in him losing his immunity from prosecution. Security officials at the airport had notified him about an order from an İstanbul court banning him from leaving the country.
Erdem faces charges connected to reports in the critical Karşı daily where he had been editor-in-chief, about the corruption investigation related to the bribery and graft scandal of then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, his family members and some cabinet ministers on Dec. 17/25, 2013. He has also been charged with violating the confidentiality of an investigation, membership in an armed group and exposing the identity of a secret witness.
Turkey is ranked 157th among 180 countries in the 2018 World Press Freedom Index released by Reporters Without Borders (RSF). If Turkey falls two more places, it will make it to the list of countries on the blacklist, which have the poorest record in press freedom.
Turkey is the biggest jailer of journalists in the world. The most recent figures documented by SCF show that 244 journalists and media workers were in jail as of June 21, 2018, most in pretrial detention. Of those in prison 184 were under arrest pending trial while only 60 journalists have been convicted and are serving their time. Detention warrants are outstanding for 142 journalists who are living in exile or remain at large in Turkey.
Detaining tens of thousands of people over alleged links to the Gülen movement, the government also closed down some 200 media outlets, including Kurdish news agencies and newspapers, after a coup attempt in Turkey on July 15, 2016.
The post Turkish police detains former CHP deputy, journalist Eren Erdem on terrorism charges appeared first on Stockholm Center for Freedom.
from Stockholm Center for Freedom https://stockholmcf.org/turkish-police-detains-former-chp-deputy-journalist-eren-erdem-on-terrorism-charges/
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