Julian ASSANGE
Wikileaks founder and publisher Julian Assange was released from detention on 24 June 2024. Assange returned to his home country of Australia following a plea deal with US prosecutors, after spending 1,901 days behind bars in Belmarsh High Security prison, London…
Lyra MCKEE
Volodymyr VAKULENKO
No one was brought to justice for the killing of Ukrainian writer Volodymyr Vakulenko during the year. However, in May 2024, the human rights initiative Truth Hounds published a detailed investigation into his murder, alleging broader involvement from the Russian Federation’s Federal Security Service (FSB)…
Ragıp ZARAKOLU
Publisher, human rights activist, and PEN Türkiye member Ragıp Zarakolu, was arrested in October 2011 and is facing a sentence of up to 15 years in prison in Türkiye on bogus terrorism charges in connection with a speech he made at an event by the now defunct pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy (BDP) party…
Merdan YANARDAĞ
On 10 December 2024, writer and PEN Türkiye member Merdan Yanardağ was retried in Istanbul on charges of insulting the Turkish nation, the Republic of Türkiye, the institutions and organs of the state (Article 301 of Türkiye’s Penal Code), in relation to his column ‘Düzenin Mafyalaşması’ (The Mafia-ization of the System)…
Meral ŞIMŞEK
Throughout 2024, writer, poet, and Kurdish PEN member Meral Şimşek continued to be on trial, appealing against a 15-month prison sentence imposed by the Malatya 2nd High Criminal Court in Malatya province, eastern Türkiye on 7 October 2021, after it convicted her of ‘making terrorist propaganda’…
Pınar SELEK
Professor Şebnem Korur FINCANCI
Prominent academic, forensic scientist, and leading human rights defender, Professor Şebnem Korur Fincancı remained on trial throughout 2024 in relation to restrained comments made in 2022 during a live interview regarding the possible use of chemical weapons by Türkiye’s armed forces against members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK)…
Yavuz EKINCI
Kurdish writer Yavuz Ekinci faces up to seven and a half years in prison on bogus terrorism propaganda grounds for his book Rüyası Bölünenler (Dream Divided). His trial opened in Istanbul in September 2024…
Can DÜNDAR
Can Dündar, then editor of the daily newspaper Cumhuriyet, continues to appeal against a lengthy prison term and is on trial on other charges (see Case Lists 2014 – 2023/2024). Dündar was detained on 26 November 2015 alongside his Ankara bureau chief Erdem Gül on terrorism and espionage charges, in connection with a May 2015 story published by…
