Istanbul: A court in Istanbul imprisoned seven journalists, including an AFP photographer, for having covered mass demonstrations launched by the arrest of the opposition chief Ekrem Imamoglu, while thousands of people challenge a prohibition of protest and a conflict with the police across Turkey.
The demonstrations broke out after the arrest of the mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu, the main political rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in a repression which saw more than 1,400 people arrested, including 11 Turkish journalists.
Seven of them were placed in pre -trial detention on Tuesday by a court in Istanbul, including the photographer of AFP Yasin Akgul, drawing a strong reprimand from the news agency based in Paris.
“His imprisonment is unacceptable. This is why I ask you to intervene as quickly as possible to obtain the rapid release of our journalist,” said the CEO and president of the agency, Fabrice Fries, in a letter to the Turkish presidency.
The court accused Akgul, 35, and the others of “participating in unleashed rallies and marches”, although Fries said that Akgul “was not part of the demonstration”, but only covered it as a journalist.
Media Freedom Group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) denounced the decision of “scandalous”, with his representative of Turkey, Erol Onderoglu, saying that he “reflects a very serious situation in Türkiye”.
‘I can’t express us freely’
Large crowds have challenged a protest ban to go to the streets daily since the March 19 move against Imamoglu, the troubles spread over Turkey and causing nightly clashes with security forces.
On Sunday, Imamoglu was massively chosen as a CHP candidate for a presidential race in 2028, with observers saying that it was the imminent primary that sparked the move against him.
Faced with the biggest demonstrations in Türkiye since the GEZI 2013 uprising on the redevelopment of a Park in Istanbul, Erdogan remained provocative, denouncing the rallies like “Terror of the Street”.
“Those who spread terror in the streets and want to set fire to this country has nowhere to go. The path they have taken is a dead end,” he said on Tuesday.
But while he spoke, thousands of students walked in the Sisli d’Istanbul district, whose mayor, Resul Emrah Sahan, was imprisoned in the same case as Imamoglu, in the direction of the municipal seat of the district.
They chanted “the government, resigning!” And flags and banners agitated slogans, including “Tayyip resign!”, Looked by a large deployment of riot police, while people in apartments above the disparaged pots to show their approval.
Many had their faces covered with scarves or masks and admitted that they feared being identified by the police.
“We cannot express ourselves freely,” said a student who gave her name as Nisa, saying that she had nevertheless joined the demonstration “to defend democracy”.
In a separate demonstration, thousands of people also joined for the seventh night of succession in a demonstration organized by the Republican People’s Party of Imamoglu (CHP) in the Sarachane district, where the town hall of Istanbul is located, which Imamoglu has led since 2019,.
Preparing for what could be a long confrontation, the chief of the CHP, Ozgur Ozel, called for a boycott of leading brands which, according to the authorities, are linked to the authorities, notably the Espressolab coffee chain and the D&R retailer.
“ Dark time for democracy ”
With the riot police using water cannons, pepper gas and rubber bullets against demonstrators, the Council of Europe denounced the “disproportionate” use of force, while Human Rights Watch said that it was a “dark time for democracy” in Turkey.
The United Nations also expressed the alarm during the use by Turkey of mass detentions and its “illegal general ban on protests”, urging the authorities to investigate any illegal use of force.
“All persons detained for the legitimate exercise of their rights must be released immediately and unconditionally,” said spokeswoman for the United Nations Rights Office Liz Throssell.
Imamoglu, 53, is widely considered the only politician capable of defeating Erdogan, who ruled the NATO member for a quarter of a century.
But Imamoglu has now been stripped of his mayor and imprisoned for a transplant and terror investigation that his supporters denounce as a “political coup”.
On Tuesday, the police had detained 1,418 suspects of having participated in “illegal demonstrations”, wrote the Minister of the Interior Ali Yerlikaya on X, warning that there would be “no concession” for those who “terrorize the streets”.
But Ozel said that the CHP was planning a vast rally this weekend and said to the crowd: “We do not decrease in number with arrests – we will have even more.”
