Turkey: Legal Attacks Against Pelin Ünker For Her Paradise Papers’ Stories Must Stop
Location: Turkey, Istanbul
Date: January 31, 2020Available in: 🇹🇷 Türkçe
Pelin Ünker is once again tackling legal attacks because of her incredible work for the Paradise Papers. She is under trial for “defamation and insult”. The fourth hearing of the lawsuits filed against her and Cumhuriyet newspaper took place in Istanbul yesterday. We demand that the charges against her be dropped immediately.
Çalık Holding sued Ünker for her news series about offshore companies in Malta, as part of the international Paradise Papers investigations. The companies were owned by Berat and Serhat Albayrak when they were managers at Çalık Holding.
The court has requested for a copy of the decision dismissing other lawsuits against Pelin with similar charges and adjourned the case until April 28, 2020.
Pelin has faced three separate lawsuits over her news series about Paradise Papers — a set of confidential documents revealing the investments of high profile names in offshore tax havens — published in Cumhuriyet.
In the past, the stories landed Pelin into legal trouble with former Turkish prime minister Binali Yıldırım’s two sons, who owned shares in at least five companies located in Malta. Yıldırım and his sons sought TL 500,000 in non-pecuniary damages claiming that Pelin had defamed them and violated their personal rights.
Last year, Pelin was sentenced to 13 months and 15 days in prison on charges of “defamation and insult”. However, the sentence handed down on January 8, 2019 was overturned by the court on May 6, 2019, because the complaints violated the statute of limitations.
When speaking during her previous hearing in her defense, Pelin said, “Maybe I can be sent behind bars for a while, but it is more important for me that my beliefs are not imprisoned.”
We, at The Coalition, urge Turkish authorities to not allow the law to be used against journalists when all they have done is report facts. Journalists should be allowed to exercise press freedom without the fear of being persecuted for doing their jobs.
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The Coalition For Women In Journalism is a global organization of support for women journalists. The CFWIJ pioneered mentorship for mid-career women journalists across several countries around the world, and is the first organization to focus on the status of free press for women journalists. We thoroughly document cases of any form of abuse against women in any part of the globe. Our system of individuals and organizations brings together the experience and mentorship necessary to help female career journalists navigate the industry. Our goal is to help develop a strong mechanism where women journalists can work safely and thrive.
Follow us on Instagram @womeninjournalism and Twitter @CFWIJ. Our website is WomenInJournalism.org and we can be reached at press@womeninjournalism.org
The Coalition For Women In Journalism closely monitors the incidents in Turkey with great concern. Since March 8, Women's Day, police violence against women journalists increasingly continues in the country. As the coalition, we urge the Turkish state to provide a free environment for journalists. Following the news is our most fundamental democratic right to report. We demand the immediate release of our detained colleagues. Journalism is not a crime. Journalism cannot be prevented.
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