Two Turkish journalists from the Bloomberg Press Agencyaccused of trying to sabotage the country’s economy after publishing an article about the collapse of the national currency, were released without charge this Friday, local media reported.
The two journalists, Kerim Karakaya and Fercan Yalinkilic, were charged "for attacking the economic stability of Turkey"after a lawsuit filed by the Agency for the regulation and supervision of the banking sector (BDDK).
An Istanbul court dropped the charges against them, ruling that "no legal element" test such an attack, according to the Turkish press agency DHA.
The incriminated article had been published in August 2018, when the Turkish pound was sinking against the dollar, in the midst of a diplomatic crisis with the United States.
A Turkish prosecutor had requested in June 2019 up to five years in prison against the journalists.
Several NGOs regularly denounce the erosion of press freedom in Turkey, which was ranked 153rd out of 180 in the 2021 press freedom ranking released by Reporters Without Borders.