MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Earlier in the day, a Turkish judge ordered the arrest and pre-trial detention of Erol Onderoglu and his two colleagues, Ahmet Nesin and Sebnem Korur Fincanci, who have been charged of spreading terror propaganda while participating in a campaign of solidarity with the Kurdish Ozgur Gundem daily which has recently experienced pressure from Ankara.
"This is another dark day for media freedom in Turkey. Erol Onderoglu has fought tirelessly to defend persecuted journalists for the past 20 years. He is a leader in this field because of his honesty and integrity, which are recognised the world over. It says a lot about the decline in media freedom in Turkey that he is now also being targeted," Johann Bihr, the head of RSF’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia desk, said as quoted in the statement.
Turkey's crackdown on journalists and restrictions on freedom of speech have been condemned by the international community, including the RSF, the United Nations, the United States, the European Union and Russia.
Turkey ranks 151st out of 180 countries in the RSF 2016 press freedom index.
