25 Journalists Sentenced to Prison in Turkey

Photo from Ukrinform – UATV

 

An Istanbul court sentences 25 journalists detained in the case of the 2016 military coup attempt to prison .

Twenty-three journalists were convicted of membership to an armed terrorist group, while two others received less rigorous accusations, Yevropeiska Pravda reported.

Eleven people were sentenced to six years and three months in prison for membership to an armed terrorist organization. Twelve defendants were imprisoned for seven years and six months on the same charges. Prominent newspaper journalist, Murat Aksoy, was sentenced to 25 months in prison on charges of aiding a terrorist organization. Pop singer and columnist, Atilla Tas, was sentenced to 37 months on the same charges.

According to Turkish media, the convicted journalists worked for publications closed by the government, due to their ties with the preacher, Fethullah Gülen, who lives in the United States, and is believed to be the organizer of the 2016 coup in Turkey.

Turkey defines terrorists as those who are perceived as an enemy or a threat to the regime of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.