PODGORICA, 15 DECEMBER, ARMENPRESS. The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović today wrote to Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Davuşoğlu calling for the immediate release of detained journalists.

“Yesterday's arrests point to a resurgence in the threats against journalists. They should be released immediately,” Mijatović said.

On 14 December, police arrested numerous members of the media during raids on a newspaper and television station.

“The arrests once again show that a thorough revision of the laws allowing for the imprisonment of journalists in Turkey is urgent. Laws should not be used to curb dissenting views in a society,” Mijatović wrote in the letter. 

The Representative has repeatedly been calling for the reform of a series of laws governing media freedom in Turkey, including the provisions of the Criminal Code and the Anti-Terror legislation most often used to imprison journalists.

The Representative noted that in recent years there was a substantial decrease of imprisoned journalists in Turkey. An annual survey commissioned by her Office showed that 95 Turkish journalists were imprisoned in 2011, a number that has fallen to around 20 in 2014 (this year’s survey is available at www.osce.org/fom/119921).

Mijatović is in Podgorica for a roundtable discussion with media representatives in Montenegro on how to improve media self-regulation in the country, report Armenpress.