Northern Cyprus: the EFJ and IFJ demand the withdrawal of charges against the President of journalists’ union Basin-Sen
Ali Kişmir, the President of the Cyprus Turkish Journalists’ Union (Basin-Sen), an affiliate of the European and International Federations of Journalists (EFJ-IFJ), will stand trial on 6 October for an article published in 2020. Kişmir faces a ten-year prison sentence for “insulting and mocking” the security forces. The federations call for the charges against him to be dropped and urge the authorities to safeguard freedom of expression which is a cornerstone of democracy. In an opinion article published in 2020, the journalist described the state of his country’s politics as a “brothel”. Three years later, he will be tried for…