A Turkish court on Friday sentenced six people, including three journalists, to life in prison for allegedly being involved in the failed coup attempt of July 2016, state media reported. They were accused of having links with exiled cleric Fetullah Gulen, who Turkey claims plotted the coup attempt.
Prominent journalists Ahmet Altan, Mehmet Altan and Nazli Ilicak, and three other media professionals, were given “aggravated” life sentences without the possibility of parole and other rights. A seventh person was acquitted.
These are the first journalists to be convicted for the coup attempt. Since the attempted coup, Turkey has arrested 40,000 people and dismissed or suspended 1.2 lakh from their posts as soldiers, police officers, teachers and public servants, suspecting that they have links with militant groups.
Mehmet Altan’s lawyer called this “the decision of the century”, which “will need to be taught in law schools”.
“Of course we are going to appeal the verdict,” the lawyer told AP. “It’s a decision where freedoms of expression and thought have been destroyed.”
Amnesty International called it a “dark day for press freedom and for justice in Turkey”.
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