Release of Turkish journalists overdue and welcome, says OSCE media freedom representative

ISTANBUL, 8 May 2014 – OSCE Media Freedom Representative Dunja Mijatović today welcomed the release of Turkish journalists Füsun Erdoğan and Bayram Namaz.

“I am very pleased to learn that these journalists have been released”, Mijatović said. I reiterate my call for the release of all remaining journalists imprisoned in Turkey and urge the authorities to carry out the long overdue legislative reform. Several laws, including the Anti-Terror Law and the Criminal Code, continue to allow for prison sentences of unprecedented length against journalists.”

Erdoğan and Namaz were first arrested and put in prison in 2006 and ultimately were tried, convicted and received life sentences in November 2013 on charges that they were senior members of a Marxist organization banned under the Turkish Anti-Terror Law.

The Representative has been calling for the legislative reform of Turkey’s terror laws since she took office in 2010.

Mijatović is in Istanbul participating in an international conference.

The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media observes media developments in all 57 OSCE participating States. She provides early warning on violations of freedom of expression and media freedom and promotes full compliance with OSCE media freedom commitments. Learn more at www.osce.org/fom, Twitter: @OSCE_RFoM and on facebook.com/osce.rfom.