Turkey always has no freedom of speech And the new year brought a new wave of censorship for Turkish media, signaling tough days ahead for independent journalism in the country.
On Thursday, prosecutors requested a sentence of up to 158 years in jail for Baris Pehlivan and Baris Terkoglu — the editor-in-chief and news director, respectively, of dissident news site Oda-TV — who face multiple charges related to their newly published book on Turkish domestic politics.
The two journalists are currently facing 14 separate investigations for criminal complaints mainly filed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s lawyers over claims made in the book.
Pehlivan and Terkoglu were on trial last year for charges relating to their report on the funeral of a Turkish spy who was killed in Libya. In that case, the prosecutors asked for 63 and 95 years of imprisonment respectively.
During another trial in September, in which the two journalists were accused of exposing an intelligence officer’s identity — which had already been revealed by a Turkish lawmaker during a parliamentary speech — Terkoglu was acquitted of all charges, while Pehlivan was released from custody pending an appeal.
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