Turkish authorities imposed a travel ban as part of judicial supervision measures on journalist Seyhan Avşar after she reported on allegations that implicate Deputy Justice Minister Akın Gürlek, the Stockholm Center for Freedom reported.
Avşar was questioned by İstanbul prosecutors for more than an hour as part of an investigation for alleged “insult,” “libel” and “misinformation.”
“We are experiencingfascism,” she said on social media. “Anyone who defies it pays a price. The judicial supervision imposed on me is a small price for me doing my job.”
Avşar had reported on the Halk TV website about allegations that the associates of Urfi Çetinkaya, a jailed drug lord, had contacted Gürlek to ensure his release.
“I’ve gotten word that Gürlek’s lawyer personally went to the İstanbul courthouse to pressure [prosecutors] into having me detained,” she tweeted on Friday.
In another development related to the report, a court order sent to Halk TV for the removal of Avşar’s report from the website has reportedly turned out to be fabricated.
The court order included the names of a lawyer and judge who don’t exist and a fabricated docket number, which was revealed during a phone call between the news network and Gürlek’s office.
“You have shared the decision on social media, but it’s fake. There’s no such judge,” Gürlek reportedly said during the phone call.
When asked why he did not take action about a forged document bearing his name, the deputy minister declined to answer, Halk TV reported.
Turkey, which is known as one of the top jailers of journalists in the world, ranks 165th among 180 countries in the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) 2023 World Press Freedom Index, which was announced in early May.
Turkey has seen an erosion in the rule of law, especially after a failed coup in July 2016, when more than 4,000 judges and prosecutors were removed under the pretext of an anti-coup fight.
The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) is accused of replacing the purged judiciary members with young and inexperienced judges and prosecutors who have close links to the AKP.
In a development that confirmed the erosion of the Turkish judiciary, Turkey was ranked 117th among 142 countries in the rule of law index published by the World Justice Project (WJP) in late October, dropping one rank in comparison to last year.