3rd Criminal Chamber of Istanbul Regional Court denied the appeal application made on the imprisonment sentences issued against seven journalists, who were prosecuted due to being Substitute Editors-In-Chief for solidarity with Özgür Gündem Daily after it was shut down on October 29, 2016 with a Statutory Decree within the State of Emergency. The court approved the acquittal decrees initially issued for 4 names. İstanbul 14th Assize Court had sentenced journalists Ertuğrul Mavioğlu, Fehim Işık, Celal Başlangıç, İhsan Çaralan, Öncü Akgül and Celalettin Can to 1 year and three months of imprisonment and the Co-Editor-In-Chief of the newspaper, Hüseyin Aykol, to 3 years and nine months of imprisonment on April 3, 2019. The court had also issued verdicts of acquittal for Ömer Ağın, Veysel Kemer, Mehmet Şirin Taşdemir and Yüksel Oğuz of the charges of “making illegal organization propaganda,” “public incitement towards committing a crime” and “praising the offense and the offender.”
23.09.2020
bianet.org