European Court of Human Rights: “Osman Kavala Must Be Released Immediately”
Cultural philanthropist Osman Kavala has been in prison since 2017. Today the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has ruled, again, that Türkiye has violated his rights and said he must be released as soon as possible. Businessman and activist Kavala founded Anadolu Kültür, a civil society organisation supporting cultural exchange and the arts. He was detained after being accused of links to the 2013 Gezi Park protests and then acquitted of those charges in 2020. New espionage allegations, drawn from the same investigation, kept him behind bars, and in April 2022 a court convicted him under Articles 309 and 312 of the Turkish Penal Code of attempting to overthrow the constitutional order, sentencing him to aggravated life imprisonment. No evidence was presented showing he had committed the crimes attributed to him. This latest judgment follows the Court’s original finding of a violation on 10 December 2019. The Grand Chamber called Kavala’s situation as “entirely exceptional”. He has now been deprived of his liberty, without interruption, for more than eight and a half years, and although he pursued every domestic remedy available to him, none secured his release or corrected the violations the Court had identified. Film producer Çiğdem Mater and documentary filmmaker Mine Özerden, both linked to Anadolu Kültür, were sentenced to 18 years in the same case. They have been jailed since April 2022, accused of aiding an attempt to overthrow the government. None of them has been released. Kavala funded culture. Mater and Özerden made films. Three rulings, eight and a half years later, and Turkey continues to resist the pressure to reverse course. And it is artists and cultural workers who pay. Freemuse continues to call for the immediate and unconditional release of Osman Kavala, Çiğdem Mater and Mine Özerden, and for an end to the prosecution of artists and cultural workers in violation of their rights to peaceful freedom of expression and assembly, as guaranteed under the Turkish Constitution and international human rights treaties to which Türkiye is a party.
Uganda’s Artists Still at Risk Despite Court Victories
Freemuse and Selam have submitted a joint report to the UN Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Uganda ahead of the country’s review in early 2027. The submission raises serious concerns about the state of artistic freedom but also recognises some important legal progress. Between 2023 and 2026, Uganda’s Constitutional Court struck down several repressive provisions. These included laws criminalising “offensive communication”, hate speech and the “misuse of social media”, as well as criminal defamation rules that had long been used against artists and government critics. These rulings are significant, but they do not tell the whole story. Artists and critics still face serious risks for speaking out. Courts continue to impose harsh sentences over satirical content about the President, and a law criminalising acts intended to “alarm, annoy or ridicule” him remains in force. This means public officials continue to receive special protection from criticism even as other restrictive laws are being overturned. Equally concerning is the unrestrained exercise of power by public officials. One of the most alarming incidents documented in the submission took place in June 2026, when the Chief of Defence Forces ordered a military siege of an independent media house. Several cases of politically motivated suppression are also highlighted, from the cancellation of a concert linked to opposition affiliation, to the unresolved disappearance of musician King Zale, who has been missing since April 2026. The submission also describes a wider shrinking of civic space. New legislation introduced in 2024 and 2026 has made it more difficult for civil society organisations, including groups that support artists, to access funding and carry out their work. The Anti-Homosexuality Act passed in 2023, among other laws, has created a climate of uncertainty and self-censorship. It has enabled arbitrary restrictions on content and placed particular pressure on LGBTI+ artists. Freemuse and Selam conclude by urging Uganda to ensure that restrictions on freedom of expression are subject to proper judicial oversight. They also call for the repeal of laws that protect public officials from criticism, credible investigations into disappearances, and equal protection for artists regardless of their political views or affiliations. Read the joint UPR submission by Freemuse and Selam here.
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Türkiye: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back
By Özlem Altunok, Freemuse Researcher, Türkiye. In early 2026, Freemuse published its annual report on the State of Artistic Freedom documenting attacks on artistic freedom worldwide throughout 2025. This update examines developments in Türkiye in the first half of 2026. While concerns about judicial politicisation under the AKP government have long been raised in Türkiye, recent developments suggest increasing judicial intervention in political processes. This broader climate has coincided with continued legal action against opposition figures and has had direct consequences for artists and cultural workers. In last year’s Freemuse report, we documented pressure on artists who participated in or expressed support for the 19 March protests that began after the detention of Ekrem İmamoğlu, the mayor of Istanbul and a leading opposition figure from the Republican People’s Party (CHP). Actor Cem Yiğit Üzümoğlu and photographer Murat Germen were among 21 people charged for supporting the opposition’s social media campaign to boycott government-linked companies. Their requests for acquittal were rejected in May 2026, and the trial continues. Filmmakers and Comedians Prosecuted Filmmakers whose work features Kurdish topics, and comedians who dare to satirise leaders past and present are vulnerable targets. The long running prosecution of the documentary Bakur, directed by Çayan Demirel and Ertuğrul Mavioğlu, continued in 2026. The first case, launched in 2017, resulted in the directors being sentenced in 2023 for “propagandising for a terrorist organisation.” A separate case was brought against the film’s cinematographer Koray Kesik in 2024. In May 2026, Kesik was likewise sentenced to two years and one month in prison on the same charge. Comedian Tuba Ulu, who was detained following remarks made during a stand-up performance in which she made an explicit joke concerning 16th century Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. She was freed to face trial on charges of “inciting hatred and hostility among the public” despite having apologised. If convicted, she faces a prison sentence of up to three years. Her case follows a long-standing trend of prosecutions of commentary deemed insulting to historic figures. ‘Promoting family institutions’: Escalating Anti-LGBTI+ Policies and Cultural Censorship Anti-LGBTI+ policies continued to advance in the first half of 2026, accompanied by official rhetoric promoting the “sanctity of the family institution.” In February, a pro-government newspaper reported that a draft anti-LGBTI+ bill had been reintroduced to parliament after being withdrawn in 2025 following public criticism, while the Ministry of Family and Social Services hosted an international “Conference on Strengthening the Family.” During this period, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan described LGBTI+ individuals as “deviant” and a threat to the family, and the public broadcaster TRT streamed a documentary titled Rainbow Fascism further endangering LGBTI+. Pressure on LGBTI+ organisations also intensified: the Young LGBTI+ Association was closed in 2025 after authorities deemed illustrations it had published on social media “obscene,” and 11 of its members remain on trial, facing up to three years’ imprisonment. The Continuing Rise of Informal Censorship Direct state intervention has increasingly become unnecessary. A notable recent trend has been the growing role of self-described concerned citizens, online harassment campaigns, and civil society organisations in initiating efforts to suppress artistic expression. Allegations based on vague concepts such as “public morality” or “offending spiritual values” continue to be used as justifications. In this context, sanctions imposed by the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK), including fines and content removal orders against popular television series and productions available on digital streaming platforms, remained. One of the most notable cases involved the temporary three-day closure of Istanbul’s Zorlu Performing Arts Centre after pro-government media accused the scheduled performers—Slaughter to Prevail, Behemoth and God Is an Astronaut—of promoting “Satanism” and being “anti-religious.” Following a social media campaign, the district governor’s office banned the concerts as “incompatible with societal values,” and, under the Law on Meetings and Demonstrations, effectively suspended all events at the venue during that period, despite the bands having previously performed in Türkiye without restriction. Courts Acquit Filmmaker and LGBTI+ Activist Despite Broader Crackdown However, a few acquittal rulings stand out as isolated examples in this intense climate of censorship. One such case involved filmmaker Rojhilat Aksoy, who faced prosecution after applying to screen the animated documentary Aurora’s Sunrise by the Armenian director, Inna Sahakyan that deals with the mass deportation and killings of Armenians in 1915. Aksoy was charged on the grounds that the film characterised the 1915 events as “genocide”, thus constituting the crime of ‘publicly insulting the Turkish nation, the Republic of Türkiye, and the state’s institutions and organs’ (Turkish Penal Code 301). This law has been used to prosecute numerous writers and artists over the years despite sharp criticism both within Türkiye and internationally. Another welcome acquittal was that of the chairperson of the 17 May Association LGBTI+ organisation, Defne Güzel, was prosecuted for allegedly acting against public morality based on publications and an exhibition about intersex rights in 2023, who faced up to three years in prison but was acquitted in May 2026. Yet acquittals and lifting of bans offer only fragile victories. The film Rojbash, directed by Özkan Küçük, offers a clear example of this back-and-forth pattern of bans being applied, then lifted, then reapplied. In 2024, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism effectively banned the screening of the film, which tells the story of a group of Kurdish theatre artists coming together to stage a play in Kurdish for the first time in 25 years, by ruling that it was “not suitable for commercial distribution and screening.” A court later found the ban unlawful and lifted it in early 2026. Yet only months later, the film was banned again, this time on the grounds that certain scenes and dialogues in the film failed to respect “social sensitivities” and could “lead to division within society.” The developments documented in the first half of 2026 reinforce a familiar pattern in Türkiye: one step forward, two steps back. Isolated advances for artistic freedom are repeatedly undermined by new restrictions, prosecutions, and censorship measures. Ensuring meaningful progress will require more than occasional acquittals. It
Political control and restrictive laws continue to undermine artistic freedom in Hungary
In April 2026, the government of Viktor Orbán was removed from office after his Fidesz party was defeated in the parliamentary elections by the opposition Tisza Party, ending Orbán’s 16 years in power. Throughout the Orbán regime, independent arts and culture came under sustained pressure, with artists and cultural workers frequently at the forefront of political repression. While the newly appointed Minister for Social Relations and Culture, Zoltán Tarr, has made statements suggesting a more supportive approach, whether these will translate into meaningful change remains a matter of concern. Every four and a half years, each United Nations member state comes before the UN Human Rights Council at the Palais des Nations in Geneva to report on its commitments to protect human rights in its country, in a process known as the Universal Periodic Review (UPR). Other member states then comment on the state’s report and make recommendations for areas of improvement. It is also an opportunity for civil society organisations to make submissions outlining their concerns. Ahead of Hungary’s UPR, scheduled to take place in November 2026, Freemuse, AICA International, and AICA Hungary delivered a submission that warned that artistic freedom remains under serious pressure despite formal human rights protections and recent promises of cultural openness. The submission argues that Hungary has not relied primarily on overt censorship, but on indirect control: centralised funding, opaque governance structures, politically aligned foundations, and laws framed around “child protection,” sovereignty, and national identity. The concern is especially urgent in light of a 28 April statement posted by Minister Zoltán Tarr, on his Facebook site in which he said: “Transparency, dialogue, and decisions not made in secret. This is what awaits us in the field of cultural life as well. Let us free our communities and Hungarian culture together.” While this rhetoric signals a possible change in direction, the UPR submission shows that Hungary’s artistic sector requires structural reform, not only new language. Cultural institutions placed under political influence The submission states that Hungary has consolidated influence over cultural production through administrative and financial mechanisms rather than direct bans. In April 2021, universities and cultural institutions were transferred to private foundations led by government appointees, including allies of Viktor Orbán. This has raised concerns about reduced transparency, weakened institutional autonomy, and the erosion of academic and artistic freedom. The submission stresses that these measures can limit independent artistic expression, critical discourse, and diversity in cultural production. The submission identifies the 2021 “child protection” law as a major threat to artistic freedom. The law restricts the representation of LGBTI+ themes in education, media, advertising, and cultural content accessible to minors. According to the submission, these restrictions risk censoring artworks that address LGBTI+ themes or are created by LGBTI+ artists. Institutions have reportedly responded with self-censorship, including removing words such as “queer” from artwork descriptions. The law has also been extended to exhibitions. In November 2023, the head of Hungary’s National Museum was dismissed during the World Press Photo exhibition after political pressure over images depicting LGBTI+ people. Soon after, the Museum of Ethnography barred minors from part of a photo exhibition showing homosexuality. Sovereignty and transparency laws risk further shrinking civic and cultural space The submission also raises concerns about legislation framed around national sovereignty and public transparency. The Sovereignty Protection Act created a state body empowered to investigate activities considered threatening to Hungary’s sovereignty. Although formally directed at political influence and foreign funding, the submission warns that it also affects cultural expression, research, and civil society. The proposed “Transparency of Public Life” bill is similarly concerning because it could regulate or restrict NGOs, media, and cultural actors receiving foreign funding. Even without full implementation, the submission says artists critical of the government already face growing difficulties accessing funding, resources, and professional opportunities. Public funding has become a tool of exclusion A central concern in the submission is the use of cultural funding to reward alignment and marginalise dissent. Hungarian artists critical of the government report that state support has become increasingly difficult to obtain and sometimes appears futile without conformity to government expectations. The submission cites filmmakers’ concerns that the government-controlled National Film Institute overwhelmingly funds films aligned with Viktor Orbán’s right-wing ideology, while films critically examining Russia’s historical role are effectively excluded. These pressures have contributed to self-censorship, professional compromise, and the outflow of artistic talent from Hungary. Freemuse, AICA International, and AICA Hungary call on Hungary to take concrete steps towards protecting cultural and artistic rights, prevent harassment of and undue pressure against artists; protect dissenting and LGBTI+ related artistic expression from discrimination and vilification; ensure transparent, independent, and non-discriminatory cultural funding; remove undue restrictions on foreign funding; and decentralise cultural institutions to support creativity and free artistic expression. You can read the joint UPR submission by Freemuse, AICA International and AICA Hungary here.
Rachelle Bezzina: “Artistic freedom exists in the spaces we carve out for ourselves”
What does it mean to make art in a small state like Malta? Sara Whyatt speaks with Rachelle Deguara, artist, writer and activist, about artistic freedom, funding, and the quiet mechanisms of institutional power. As she puts it: ” The system lacks a healthy distance between art, politics, and power.”