An indictment was prepared against the 14 employees of Özgürlükçü Demokrasi Newspaper. Six of the 14 employees are currently arrested; and a trustee has been assigned to the newspaper. Istanbul 23rd Assize Court accepted the indictment, which charges the defendants, including the newspaper’s owner İhsan Yaşar and Editor-In-Chief İshak Yasul, with ‘illegal organization membership’, ‘making illegal organization propaganda’ and ‘distributing illegal organization publications.’
25 pages of the 67-page indictment consists of the news published on the newspaper after January 20, with further allegation that a “routine and systematic terrorist organization propaganda was made with the aim to create a negative perception with news against the government” regarding the Afrin operation. The newspaper was asserted to have been the continuation of Özgür Gündem Newspaper, which was shut down with an emergency decree. Hence being the newspaper’s editor, managing editor, owner, distributor or undertaking any administrative or financial responsibility for the newspaper was considered a crime.
23.05.2018
gazetekarinca.com