TURKISH President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s recent pronouncements on human rights and freedom of expression were exposed as a mockery today after 66 journalists went on trial in just one day.
They faced a range of charges including spreading terrorist propaganda just days after the authoritarian ruler proclaimed that “nobody can be robbed of their freedoms because of a criticism or opinion,” as he laid out a new human rights action plan.
Some 46 journalists working in pro-Kurdish media including the now-closed Ozgur Gundem newspaper Dicle Haber Ajansi, Azadiya Welat, Demokratik Modernitecand Firat Dagitim were hauled before court for the twentieth time.