Turkish court decides to have 16 journalists further remanded in custody

A Turkish court decided on Wednesday to have 16 Kurdish journalists further remanded in custody.

The decision was issued by a court in the Kurdish-majority province of Diyarbakır in response to an application by the journalists' lawyers for the release of their clients.

The 16 journalists, including editors and reporters of all women news agency Jin News and Mezopotamya News Agency, were arrested on "terror" charges 8 June in dawn raids on their houses. They were remanded in custody on 16 June and sent to prison by a court order to await trial.

According to a report by the Journalists Union of Turkey (TGS), 38 journalists are currently jailed in Turkey.

An opposition MP said on 24 July that journalists faced court 350 times in the first half of 2022 in Turkey. 56 journalists were detained and 23 taken into custody in the same period of time.