The AEJ has joined other media freedom groups to protest against the arrest of a Turkish journalist for “insulting the president”.
Sedef Kabaş was arrested on January 22 on a charge of insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan after she made comments in a TV programme and if convicted could face years in prison.
Following her arrest, other Turkish media organisations and another journalist have faced punitive measures and threats of violence for speaking out on the case.
The AEJ and 26 media freedom groups called for Turkey to abolish the criminal law against ‘insulting the President’, end widespread judicial harassment of journalists, and free Sedef Kabaş at once.
The statement noted that last October, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the offence of insulting the president under Turkish criminal law is incompatible with freedom of expression.
