A Turkish court on Wednesday sentenced 14 employees of an opposition newspaper to prison on terrorism charges, Reuters reported. They got sentences of two-and-a-half years to seven-and-a-half years each. They were accused of supporting the exiled cleric Fetullah Gulen, who Turkey claims plotted the failed coup attempt of 2016.
A 15th person, not employed by the Cumhuriyet newspaper but charged for his social media activity, got 10 years in prison and was detained, lawyer Ozden Ozdemir said. The others will remain free pending an appeal, but are not allowed to leave the country.
The verdict is “absolutely not lawful” as it was a political case, Ozdemir said.
The Cumhuriyet is one of the rare voices left in the country that is critical of the government, according to Al Jazeera. Three staff members of the newspaper were acquitted.
Before the court hearing, the newspaper wrote in a front-page editorial: “Enough is enough with this cruelty”, according to the BBC. After the verdict, its website read: “You will be shamed in front of history.”
Editor-In-Chief Murat Sabuncu and renowned journalist and author Ahmet Sik were sentenced to seven-and-a-half years each, while cartoonist Musa Kart was given a three-year-and-nine-month sentence.
Prosecutors had sought sentences of up to 43 years in jail for the Cumhuriyet staff. They alleged that the newspaper had effectively been taken over by supporters of Gulen and two other groups that Turkey considers terrorist outfits.
Since the attempted coup in 2016, Turkey has arrested over 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.
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