After the release of 4 people in the murder case of journalist Güngör Arslan, Reporters Without Borders Organization (RSF) called for ‘clarification’ of the murder and ‘accountability’ from all perpetrators.
Rebecca Vincent, RSF Director of Operations and Campaigns, said: “We condemn both the murder of Güngör Arslan and the alarming general increase in violence faced by media workers in Turkey. We call on the judiciary to shed light on all aspects of this murder and to ensure that Arslan’s killers are brought to justice as soon as possible. We also call on the Turkish authorities to take urgent action to put an end to the impunity of such crimes and improve the security environment for journalists working throughout the country,” Güngör Arslan, a journalist who owns a local Internet news site in Izmit, died on February 19 by a gun attack in his office. At the first hearing of the case in which 10 of
14 suspects are under arrest, were tried for the murder of Güngör Arslan, the court panel decided to release 4 defendants under arrest. The hearing was adjourned until October 10.
Turkey is ranked 149th among 180 countries in the 2022 World Press Freedom Index.