Six Turkish journalists jailed for life for "coup links"
A Turkish court has sentenced six journalists to life in jail for alleged links to the July 2016 coup plotters.
The six sentenced journalists are Nazli Ilicak, Ahmet Altan, Mehmet Altan, Fevzi Yazici, Yakup Simsek and Sukru Tugrul Ozsengul.
The Altan brothers, who are both veteran journalists and writers,
were accused of giving coded messages in a television talk show on the
eve of the coup attempt.
The journalists were all found guilty of links to US-based Islamic
preacher Fethullah Gulen, blamed over the failed coup. The Istanbul
court found them guilty of "attempting to abolish the order prescribed
by the Turkish constitution or to bring in a new order", Turkish media
reported.
All six journalists denied the charges.
Nazli Ilicak |
The court ruling was condemned by human rights groups, including the UN and OSCE representatives on media freedom.
"These harsh sentences are an unacceptable and unprecedented assault
on freedom of expression and on the media in Turkey," said David Kaye,
the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of expression, and
Harlem Desir, the representative on media freedom for the Organization
for Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE).
Deniz Yucel |
Military officers led a mutiny against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on
15 July 2016 which resulted in the deaths of 250 civilian
protesters. Since the abortive coup, the Turkish authorities have jailed
more than 50,000 people and dismissed more than 150,000 public
servants, including journalists, teachers, police and justice officials.
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