floundering in the polls.
Erdogan at the ceremony of receiving new cannons, Monday (Photo: Reuters)
The Turkish government has intensified its persecution of its political critics and opponents ahead of the elections to be held later this year - this is what Human Rights Watch said today (Thursday), noting that the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is using censorship and prison terms against his opponents, against the background of his and his party's dire situation in surveys.
Presidential and parliamentary elections are due to be held in mid-June, but Erdogan has said he may bring them earlier.
In the Human Rights Watch's annual global report, it is stated that the authorities are using online censorship and anti-disinformation laws against independent media, the opposition and critics.
According to the polls, the ruling Justice and Development Party may lose power for the first time in 20 years, in light of the severe economic crisis that Turkey is suffering from.
"The government carried out particularly offensive maneuvers against the opposition, imposed a sweeping ban on demonstrations and jailed and convicted human rights defenders and those considered its critics by courts that operate under political orders," the report states.
Turkey's media administration has yet to comment on the report, which was published weeks after a court sentenced Istanbul Mayor Akram Imamoglu, who was seen as a possible opponent of Erdogan in the election, to more than two years in prison.
The mayor, who was also removed from political activity following his conviction for insulting public servants in 2019, appealed the decision.
Erdogan said in response that the citizens have no right to ignore the rulings of the courts and claimed that they will correct any mistake made in the appeal procedures.
The authorities limit the existence of demonstrations.
Supporters of the mayor of Istanbul in a demonstration against his imprisonment, last month (Photo: Reuters)
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court froze the bank accounts of the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party, the third largest in parliament.
The party is accused by the authorities of ties with the Kurdish underground, which is defined as a terrorist organization, but it denies this.
In October, the parliament passed a bill by the ruling party that provides prison terms of up to three years for journalists and social media users who spread "disinformation."
The critics of the law fear a serious damage to the freedom of expression, which was already reduced under Erdogan, and claim that there is no clear definition of "false or misleading information", so the law is subject to the interpretations of the non-independent courts.
The government denies that it has any influence on the courts and claims that the law is intended to monitor online publications, protect the state and fight disinformation.
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