A caricaturist for the government-raided daily Özgür Gündem, Doğan Güzel was frogmarched and detained by the government over the newspaper’s alleged propaganda for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), on Tuesday.
According to a statement by the Istanbul Public Prosecutor’s Office, the Istanbul 8th Criminal Court of Peace approved a criminal court of peace magistracy’s request to “temporarily” shut down Özgür Gündem.
Police raided the daily’s Istanbul headquarters and detained more than 10 journalists including the editor-in-chief, Zana Kaya.
This is not the first closure of Özgür Gündem due to alleged PKK propaganda. The daily started a campaign on May 3 called “editors-in-chief on duty” to foster solidarity and defend press freedom against a number of investigations it has faced.