On Tuesday, 25 March, the Istanbul public prosecutor’s office ordered the detention of four journalistsarrested on 24 March as part of the intensifying crackdown on press freedom as the protests triggered on 19 March by the arrest of Istanbul’s mayor and main opposition figure, Ekrem İmamoğlu, continue to rock the country.AFP photojournalistYasin Akgül, freelance photojournalistBülent Kılıç,Now HaberreporterAli Onur Tosun, and freelance journalistZeynep Kuray were simply doing their job — covering massive public demonstrations.
Nevertheless, they are now being unjustly prosecuted under Law 2911 on public meetings and demonstrations. If their lawyers fail to reverse the decision on appeal, the journalists could remain in detention for weeks or even months awaiting trial.