CPJ says Turkey’s journalist crackdown is nearing a crisis point

The Committee to Protect Journalists says Turkey’s crackdown on journalists is nearing a crisis point.

It urged authorities to release four journalists facing detention or house arrest over their coverage of an investment fund scandal.

An İstanbul court jailed editor Mustafa Balcı and editor-in-chief Şaban Sevinç pending trial, while columnists İsmail Saymaz and Murat Ağırel were placed under house arrest.

The journalists are accused of spreading misleading information, allegations they deny.

Their reporting concerned claims linking people in President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s ruling party to the fund investigation, and allegations about Trade Minister Ömer Bolat, who denied wrongdoing.

The fund crisis began after some funds could not meet withdrawal requests, leading to a stock market selloff and investigations into suspected market manipulation.

Turkey’s securities regulator ordered the liquidation of 131 funds affecting 455,758 investors, while prosecutors also opened an investigation into people who shared confidential documents.

CPJ says at least 22 journalists have been arrested or detained under Turkey’s disinformation law this year and is calling for the law’s abolition; the four journalists’ cases are ongoing.