PNN – Seven journalists, including an AFP photographer, were sentenced to prison by a Turkish court on Tuesday for taking part in protests, while the United Nations expressed concern over the country’s authorities’ widespread arrests.
According to the report of Pakistan News Network, citing France 24, an Istanbul court on Tuesday issued a temporary detention order for seven Turkish journalists, including an AFP photographer, on charges of participating in unauthorized gatherings, the human rights NGO and the Turkish Journalists’ Union announced.
Turkish police arrested journalists covering protests following the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu.
Turkish authorities banned demonstrations in three major cities early Monday morning, but despite the ban, protests were held in Turkish cities, during which 1,400 demonstrators were arrested.
Separately, the United Nations on Tuesday expressed concern over Türkiye’s resort to mass arrests amid protests against the detention of the Istanbul mayor, warning that it would investigate Turkish authorities for using unlawful force against demonstrators.
Read more:
More than 1,100 people arrested in Türkiye in protests following Imamoglu’s arrest.
Liz Trussell, spokesperson for the UN Human Rights Office, expressed “deep concern” in a statement that the country’s authorities have arrested at least 92 people, including Ekrem Imamoglu, the elected mayor of Istanbul, in the past week, referring to the arrest of more than a thousand people, including journalists, during protest demonstrations in Turkey.
Turkey’s biggest protests in a decade began early last week with the arrest of Imamoglu, Erdogan’s most prominent political rival. Protesters, opposition parties, European leaders and human rights groups have described the Turkish government’s move to arrest Imamoglu as political and undemocratic.
Since then, hundreds of thousands of Turkish people have gathered every evening in squares, streets and universities across the country, chanting anti-Erdogan slogans and demanding not only the release of Imamoglu, but also the establishment of justice and respect for the rights of citizens in this country, according to France 24.
The mayor of Istanbul, a key opposition figure and potential rival to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was arrested by the country’s government on charges of corruption and “terrorism.”
His arrest came four days before the Republican People’s Party (CHP) nominated Imamoglu as its presidential candidate for 2028.
On Saturday last week, Erdogan accused the party’s leadership of turning the Republican People’s Party “into an institution to acquit a number of thieves in the municipality who have been blinded by money.”