Pelin Ünker, a Turkish journalist who covered the Paradise Papers revelations in November 2017, was sentenced last week to 13 months in prison for “insulting and defaming” Turkey’s former Prime Minister Binali Yildirim when she revealed that he and his two sons had hid their money in offshore tax havens.
After her sentencing, Pelin Ünker said she would appeal, reported the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.
“There is no offense or defamation in my articles. Binali Yildirim himself acknowledged that his sons owned these companies in Malta. I do not think my investigation is a crime,” Pelin Ünker said.
The number of investigations for defamation against Turkey’s President Erdogan have increased from 130 in 2014 the year he was elected, to now more than 6,300 in 2017. More than 3,400 people have been convicted in these cases.
Photo of Pelin Ünker via Twitter
ANARCHIMEDIA 