Turkish journalist Pelin Ünker has been sentenced to jail for a story she wrote revealing details about the former Turkish Prime minister and his sons’ business activities in Malta. Speaking to Jacob Borg, Ms Ünker says that she is now awaiting the outcome of an appeal to see if she will go to prison for her investigative work.

“Guilty”.

Pelin Ünker faces 13 months in jail if her appeal is rejected.

This verdict, delivered by a Turkish court on January 8, came as little surprise to Pelin Ünker as she learnt that she faced 13 months in jail for an investigative story about how the sons of former Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım used companies based in Malta to minimise their tax bills.

Mr Yıldırım was Turkey’s Prime Minister between 2016 and 2018, before the post was abolished.

As a result of the article, Ms Ünker, who is a member of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), was found guilty by an Istanbul court of defamation and insulting a public official.

Speaking to The Sunday Times of Malta, the Turkish journalist said the charge of insulting a public official was being used more frequently against critical journalists in Turkey over the past few years.

A December report by the committee to protect journalists found that Turkey is the worst jailer of journalists, with 68 journalists imprisoned last year alone.

Her discoveries about Mr Yıldırım’s activities came as part of the ICIJ’s global Paradise Papers leak, which included searchable data from the Malta Financial Services Authority’s company registry.

Such verdicts are a normal part of life in Turkish journalism

Ms Ünker’s article highlighted the use of tax-advantageous jurisdictions like Malta by the global elite to reduce their tax bills.

She also discovered that one of the Maltese companies is linked to a Turkish firm that received a €7 million contract from the Turkish government.

The Yıldırıms have admitted to owning the Maltese companies.

Ms Ünker said the Yıldırım family blame her for portraying the use of tax havens as a financial crime.

“It is true, that this is legal. I always highlighted that in my text,” she said.

Since the sentence was handed down, the European Parliament has urged the European Commission to pressure the Turkish authorities to drop the charges against her.

The European centre for press freedom has also shown its support and the OSCE representative on freedom of the media has urged Turkey not to prosecute a journalist for her investigative work.

Although the sentence has been handed down, Ms Ünker has not yet been jailed pending an appeal.

“I have applied for an appeal and am awaiting the court’s decision,” she says laconically.

Ms Ünker explains that such verdicts are a normal part of life in Turkish journalism.

“I don’t [fear going to jail]. I am just trying to move on with my life. All my journalist friends have supported me. They have been facing such cases a lot. In a way, we got used to it”.