The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that the “terrorist organization propaganda” sentence given to journalist Burcu Özkaya Günaydın for her social media posts violated freedom of expression and press freedom.
The sentence handed down by the Hatay 2nd High Criminal Court, which deferred the announcement of the verdict, was deemed a violation by the ECtHR on the grounds that “newsworthy content was punished”.
The court ordered Günaydın to pay 2,500 euros in compensation.
MLSA Co-Director Lawyer Veysel Ok stated that the ruling is “of jurisprudence quality in terms of emphasizing that news posts cannot be subject to a propaganda case.”
October 14, 2025
MLSA Turkey