Journalism is Not Always a Protected Enterprise

Journalist in jail for insulting president

On June 13, Yavuz Selim Demirağ, a columnist for the nationalist daily Yeni Çağ, started an 11-month and 20-day prison sentence for "insulting the president," according to his column published the same day. The column featured an update from the newspaper that said that the journalist had turned himself and will be at Ayaş Prison in Ankara.
Demirağ's sentence is related to a speech he gave at a conference in the western city of Nazilli four years ago, Evrensel reported.
CPJ documented last month how Demirağ was attacked in Ankara after appearing as a guest on a political talk show on the nationalist Türkiyem TV.

Could you imagine the void in journalism for the United States if the sitting President had the power to do this to American journalists?!

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