A Turkish appeals court in İstanbul on Tuesday upheld aggravated life sentences handed down to six jailed journalists including prominent figures Ahmet Altan and Nazlı Ilıcak.
The journalists were given the sentences by a high criminal court in İstanbul in February after their conviction of attempting to destroy the constitutional order.
The appeals hearing of Ahmet Altan, Mehmet Altan and Ilıcak as well as two former employees of the now-closed Zaman newspaper, Zaman brand marketing manager Yakup Şimşek and art director Fevzi Yazıcı, along with former Police Academy lecturer Şükrü Tuğrul Özşengül, was held at the 2nd chamber of the İstanbul Regional Court of Law, which serves as an appeals court.
Ahmet Altan’s brother, Mehmet Altan, an economics professor and journalist, was also given an aggravated life sentence but was released pending appeal in June based on a decision of the Constitutional Court, which said Altan’s rights were violated during the trial. Mehmet Altan had been in pre-trial detention since September 2016.
Both Mehmet Altan and Ahmet Altan, who were detained on Sept. 10, 2016, were accused of sending “subliminal” messages regarding a controversial coup attempt on July 15, 2016, on a TV show a day before the abortive putsch.
The journalists who appeared in court on Tuesday for the final appeals hearing are charged with attempting to overthrow the “constitutional order,” “interfering with the work of the national assembly” and “interfering with the work of the government” through violence or force.
“This injustice has hurt me,” Ilıcak said in her final defense statement. “Almost all of the columnists who had been placed behind bars have been released, including those from the Zaman newspaper. I did not commit a crime. I ask for my acquittal.”
Ilıcak has previously denied alleged links to the Gülen movement.
Ahmet Altan, Fevzi Yazıcı, Yakup Şimşek and Ilıcak are serving aggravated life sentences, and as such, they are not eligible for parole and will not be considered in future amnesty decisions.
Turkey is ranked 157th among 180 countries in the 2018 World Press Freedom Index released by Reporters Without Borders (RSF). If Turkey falls two more places, it will make it to the list of countries on the blacklist, which have the poorest record in press freedom.
Turkey is the biggest jailer of journalists in the world. The most recent figures documented by SCF show that 236 journalists and media workers were in jail as of September 20, 2018, most in pretrial detention. Of those in prison 168 were under arrest pending trial while only 68 journalists have been convicted and are serving their time. Detention warrants are outstanding for 147 journalists who are living in exile or remain at large in Turkey.
Detaining tens of thousands of people over alleged links to the Gülen movement, the government also closed down some 200 media outlets, including Kurdish news agencies and newspapers, after a coup attempt in Turkey on July 15, 2016. (SCF with turkishminute.com)
