The September report of the ‘Price of News’ project, conducted by journalist Hayri Demir with the support of the Journalists Association's Media for Democracy/Democracy for the Media project has been announced.

The report revealed that 49 journalists stood trial in 32 different cases in 9 different cities during the month of September. 14 separate hearings were held in Istanbul and 6 others were held in Amed (Diyarbakır) province.

PRISON SENTENCE, DETENTION, ARREST...

The report noted that in the hearings held in September, the journalists faced two aggravated life sentences, imprisonment from 266 years 4 months and 15 days up to 649 years 4 months and 15 days and a compensation of 80,000 TL. The courts passed verdicts in 3 cases, while 29 hearings were postponed to later dates. Six of the journalists standing trial in these cases were sentenced to 27 years and 3 months in prison. A verdict of acquittal was rendered for the 5 journalists on trial.

According to the report, new lawsuits were filed against 4 journalists in September. New investigations were opened against 6 journalists. 3 different newspapers were sued for compensation of 100 thousand TL each.

4 journalists were detained on the grounds of various investigations. A journalist was put behind bars after his prison sentence became final.

The report noted that at least 8 journalists faced threats, attacks and crackdowns during the past month.