A group of intellectuals, who reacted against journalists Can Dündar and Erdem Gül standing trial with two life sentence claims, denounced themselves to the Prosecutor’s Office in Ankara and Istanbul. "If the things they wrote constitute a crime, we commit the same crime," stated the group.
The intellectuals, including Baskın Oran and Rakel Dink, made criminal complaints against themselves by presenting the petitions they prepared following the statement they made, the content of which included the writings and news of the journalists, together with the sections of the newspapers which constitute the "crime."
Speaking at the statement in front of the Istanbul Courthouse, the spokesperson of our Initiative, Şanar Yurdatapan stated, "whoever has trouble for expressing their opinions, no matter what their opinion is, we denounce ourselves to the Prosecutor by signing under that same statement. Today, we are here to join the crimes of Can Dündar and Erdem Gül. Two life sentences were claimed against them. The thing they committed was a duty of journalism. Now they are charged with revealing some governmental secret, with espionage."