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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Turkey: Stop Judicial Harassment of Human Rights Defender Nurcan Baysal

Washington - April 24, 2020 — In response to the launch of multiple criminal investigations against Turkish journalist and human rights defender Nurcan Baysal, Freedom House issued the following statement:



“We are deeply concerned about the continuous judicial harassment of Nurcan Baysal,” said Marc Behrendt, director of Freedom House’s Europe and Eurasia programs. “On April 20, authorities launched a new criminal investigation into her online posts from 2018 and 2019. This is the third investigation into her work since mid-March. The first was linked to her tweet about a case of alleged sexual assault on March 12, and the second came after she questioned Turkish officials’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic in southeastern Turkey on March 31. We call on Turkish authorities to cease this harassment and allow Baysal to exercise her fundamental right to free expression without the risk of criminal charges.”



Background:

Nurcan Baysal is an award-winning journalist who covers topics related to human rights, development, and poverty in Turkey. She is also a cofounder of several civil society organizations, including the Platform to Save Women Kidnapped by ISIS and the Diyarbakır Political and Social Research Institute (DISA). Baysal has been under pressure from Turkish authorities since 2016, when she wrote an article that criticized the military’s operations in the mainly Kurdish town of Cizre, in southeastern Turkey. She was detained twice in the last year.



Turkey is rated Not Free in Freedom in the World 2020

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and Not Free in Freedom on the Net 2019

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Freedom House is an independent watchdog organization that supports democratic change, monitors the status of freedom around the world, and advocates for democracy and human rights.

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