September 6, 2024 - Turkiye, Ankara

Update: October 8, 2024

On September 6, 2024, JINNews' Melek Avcı was summoned by Ankara's Counter-Terrorism Branch over social media posts and accused of "terrorist propaganda."

A month later, the Turkish court has accepted an indictment against Kurdish journalist Melek Avcı for allegedly spreading propaganda for the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), according to the Media and Law association. Avcı defended her posts as free expression.

She pointed out that one of the posts that drew legal scrutiny merely shared an official Turkish Foreign Ministry statement regarding cooperation with the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) on PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan’s prison conditions. “How can sharing an official ministry statement be considered ‘terror propaganda’?” Avcı asked. The apparent absurdity of this charge was acknowledged by authorities, as the statement was omitted from the final indictment but remained in her interrogation records.

This is yet another attempt to intimidate a journalist of the Kurdish press.

Women Press Freedom denounces the accusations and demands Turkish authorities stop using anti-terrorism laws to harass journalists.