Press release | Jan. 9, 2019

Global Witness comment on Pelin Ünker sentencing

A Turkish court has sentenced journalist Pelin Ünker to 13 months in jail for her role in the Paradise Papers. 

Ava Lee, Anti-Corruption Campaigner at Global Witness said: 

“The guilty verdict against Pelin Unker is extremely concerning and fits with a wider trend of using any means possible to shut down the voices of those investigating corruption. Jailing journalists is one way to silence their stories. Killing them is another: 2018 saw a doubling in journalists murdered for their reporting.”

“President Erdogan made grand statements about press freedom when Kamal Khashoggi was murdered in Istanbul, but this judgement is no surprise to people following the treatment of the media in Turkey.”

/ ENDS

Contacts

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