Abdülkerim Balcı worked as an Ankara correspondent and a columnist for the Zaman Newspaper, which has been closed. For him, the prosecutor demanded a sentence of up to three times aggravated life imprisonment in the scope of the trial known as FETÖ Media Main Case. Yet, he was abroad when the investigation started about him.

Ahmet Altan was the editor-in-chief of the Taraf Newspaper, which was shut down by a presidential decree on July 28, 2016. He began his journalism career in 1974. He has been in prison since Sept. 23, 2016. He received an aggravated life sentence in “the FETÖ Media Main Trial.” The Court of Appeal confirmed the verdict, however, the Court of Cassation reversed it. The prosecution has started once again.

Ahmet Şık has been a journalist since 1991. He was arrested on the charges of “making propaganda for three seperate terrorist organizations.” His file was then consolidated with the Cumhuriyet Newspaper Case. He was jailed pending trial for 14 months. He was sentenced to 7 years and 6 months imprisonment. The verdict was approved by the Court of Appeal.The Court of Cassation demanded a reversal of the decision. However, it asked for Ahmet Şık’s prosecution with regards to the allegations of “legitimazing the actions of the organization” and “insulting the bodies of the state” other than “aiding an organization knowingly and voluntarily.”

Ahmet Turan Alkan was a columnist for the Zaman Newspaper for 20 years. He was kept in jail for nearly 2 years in the scope of the operation against the Zaman Newspaper. Alkan was found guilty for “being a member of an armed terrorist organization” and was sentenced to 8 years and 9 months imprisonment. The Court of Appeal upheld the sentence. His file is in the Court of Cassation.

Akın Atalay is a legal expert and lawyer. He was the Chairman of the Executive Board of Cumhuriyet Foundation. He was detained in the scope of the investigation against the Cumhuriyet Newspaper. He was recommended up to 43 years imprisonment. He was sentenced to 7 years 3 months 15 days of prison. The verdict was approved by the Court of Appeal. The Court of Cassation reversed the decision which had been approved by the Court of Appeal.

Ali Bulaç was a columnist for Zaman Newspaper which was then shut down. He was also a founding member of the newspaper. He was in prison for 22 months within the scope of Zaman Newspaper Main Trial. He was sentenced to 8 years, 9 months imprisonment for “being a member of an armed terrorist organization.” The Court of Appeal upheld the sentence. His file is in the Court of Cassation.

He was a columnist for the Zaman Newspaper which was then shut down. Within the scope of the trial called as “FETÖ Media Main Case”, the prosecutor demanded a sentence of up to three times aggravated life imprisonment for Çolak. However, Çolak was abroad when the investigation against him started.

Ali Sönmez Kayar is a reporter for the Etkin News Agency (ETHA). He was accused of “being a member of the urban guerilla structure of the MLKP [Marxist Leninist Communist Party]. After 8 and a half months in prison, he was released. His prosecution continues.

Ali Ünal was a columnist for Zaman Newspaper which was then shut down. The court sentenced Ünal to 19 years and 6 months imprisonment for “establishing and managing an armed terrorist organization.” The verdict was approved by the Court of Appeal and is now at the Court of Cassation. He has been imprisoned since Aug. 15, 2016.

Alican Uludağ has been working for the Cumhuriyet newspaper since 2008. He was sentenced to 10 months of prison due to one of his reports in the Cumhuriyet newspaper. Also, he has been prosecuted for his reporting on how Pastor Brunson’s [Andrew Craig Brunson, a US pastor who had been arrested in Turkey and charged for “committing offenses on behalf of FETÖ and PKK, and espionage.” Brunson was sentenced to 3 years 1 month and 15 days of prison. His arrest increased tensions between the US and Turkey. After his release, he returned to the US] release was based on diplomatic and political reasons, not legal ones. Uludağ is facing up to two years in prison.

Arzu Demir has been a journalist since 1997. She was kept under custody for 4 days in the scope of the “KCK Press” operation. She was accused of “being a member of a terrorist organization” and her prosecution continues without arrest. Because of her book The Rojava Revolution, Arzu Demir was charged for “making a terrorist organization’s propaganda” and sentenced to 6 years in prison.

Aslı Erdoğan is an author. She was also a member of the advisory committee of Özgür Gündem Newspaper, which was shuttered. She was prosecuted with all the other authorized persons of the newspaper. She was detained for 4 months and 10 days on the charges of “being a member of a terrorist organization” and “making propaganda for a terrorist organization.” After her travel ban was removed, she moved to Germany.

Aydın Engin has been a journalist since 1969. He was sentenced to 7,5 years in prison for “aiding and abetting an organisation knowingly and willingly, although he does not belong to the structure of that organization.” The Court of Cassation reversed the decision about Aydın Engin.

Ayşe Oyman worked as a reporter and editor for Özgür Gündem, IMC TV and DİHA. She was detained in December 2011 within the case known as the “KCK Press.” She was jailed for charges of “membership of a terrorist organization.” Oyman was released on March 3, 2014. Her trial continues.

Ayşenur Parıldak was a journalist for the Zaman Newspaper, which has since been closed. Parıldak was sentenced to 7.5 years in prison for FETÖ membership. The decision was approved by both the Court of Appeal and Cassation. Parıldak, who was 26 years old when she was arrested, has been in prison since August 2016.

Beritan Canözer is a correspondent for JinNews. She was taken into custody and arrested in 2005 due to her “enthusiasm.” She was acquitted from this trial but another lawsuit continues against her with the charge of “being a member of a terrorist organization.”

Berzan Güneş is a former reporter for Mezopotamya News Agency (MA). He was taken into custody in Şırnak on June 11, 2018. Güneş was charged for “making propaganda for a terrorist organization” and subsequently arrested. He was released at the end of his first hearing on Aug. 7, 2018. He is being prosecuted without pretrial detention.

Bilge Oykut Contepe was a member of the advisory board of publication for the Özgür Gündem Newspaper, which has then been closed down. She has been on trial with the other managers working for the newspaper on the charge of terrorism.

Bülent Keneş was a journalist working for the Zaman daily since 1994. Keneş was the editor-in-chief for the Today’s Zaman Newspaper, which was later closed. He also served as a correspondent for Anadolu Agency’s New York office. He resigned from his position in the Zaman Newspaper in December 2015.

Çağdaş Erdoğan is an independent photojournalist. He was taken into custody on Istanbul’s Kalamış coast. He was prosecuted for taking photographs of MIT’s social facility. He was charged with “being a member of an organization” and “making propaganda for an organization.” He was imprisoned for 6 months and was released pending trial.

Çağdaş Kaplan is a correspondent for DİHA and the editor-in-chief for the Yeni Yaşam Newspaper. He was jailed for more than one year pending trial in the scope of the “KCK Press” case. He is now pending trial for being a member of an organization.

Çağrı Sarı is a reporter for the Evrensel newspaper. Upon the complaint of Berat Albayrak, the then energy minister, current economy minister and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s son-in-law, and Albayrak’s brother Serhat Albayrak, Sarı was prosecuted for her reporting on the “Paradise Papers,” a set of leaked electronic documents relating to the offshore investments of numerous politicians and business people around the world. She was eventually acquitted.

Can Dündar was the editor-in-chief of the Cumhuriyet Newspaper. At the beginning of the Cumhuriyet trial, in which he was one of the defendants, Dündar was abroad. He was prosecuted for his reporting on Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization’s (MIT) trucks and spent 3 months in prison. He was sentenced to 5 years 10 months of prison.

Canan Coşkun started her professional career at the Cumhuriyet newspaper in February 2012. She terminated her contract in September 2018. Coşkun was charged for “disclosing or publishing the identities of state officials that were assigned in the fight against terrorism” (Law on the Fight Against Terrorism, Article 6) and sentenced to 2 years and 3 months in prison. The Court of Appeal has yet to approve the verdict. In addition, Coşkun is being prosecuted due to one of her reports and has been charged with “insulting the President of the Republic” (TPC 299).

Cansu Pişkin graduated from the Ankara University Faculty of Communication’s Journalism Department. She was the judicial reporter for the Evrensel newspaper from 2015 to April 2019. She has been working for the Plarform24 since April 2019. Due to one of her reports, Pişkin was sentenced to 10 months in prison for “disclosing or publishing the identities of state officials assigned in the fight against terrorism” (Law on the Fight Against Terrorism, Article 6). The announcement of the verdict was deferred.

Çiğdem Toker began her journalism career in 1986. Due to her two columns, a total of 3 million Turkish liras of lawsuits were brought against her for non-pecuniary damages by Agrobay Greenhousing and Şenbay Mining, which are incorporated in the Bayburt Group. In addition, due to her another article published in the Cumhuriyet Newspaper, the Postal and Telegraph Service (PTT) sued her with a demand of 50,000 liras for non-pecuniary damages. Agrobay Greenhousing’s and PTT’s claims for damages were rejected.

Değer Özergün worked for the Hürriyet and Sabah Newspapers and Şamdan Magazine. He was the former editor-in-chief of the Millet Newspaper. He is a fugitive in the Karşı trial.

Deniz Yücel is a Turkish-descent German journalist and columnist. When he was the representative of Turkey for Die Welt, he was taken into custody and arrested in the scope of an investigation about the-then Minister of Energy and Natural Sources, Berat Albayrak’s emails being leaked to the public. After one year in detention, he was released and returned to Germany. His prosecution continues.

Derya Okatan was the editor-in-chief at the Etkin News Agency (ETHA). She reported the news about Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s son-in-law and then- Minister of Energy and Natural Sources,Berat Albayrak’s emails, which were published by a ‘hacker’ group called ‘RedHack.’ She has been pending trial within the scope of the ‘Redhack lawsuit’. Prosecutors recommended she receive 16.5 years of jail time.

Duygu Güvenç started her journalistic career in 1997. She is facing up to two years in prison due to her reporting on how Pastor Brunson’s [Andrew Craig Brunson, a US pastor who had been arrested in Turkey and charged for “committing offenses on behalf of FETÖ and PKK, and espionage.” Brunson was sentenced to 3 years 1 month and 15 days of prison. His arrest increased tensions between the US and Turkey. After his release, he returned the US] release was based on diplomatic and political reasons, not legal ones. Alican Uludağ, another reporter for the Cumhuriyet newspaper is also prosecuted in the same file.

Ece Sevim Öztürk was the editor-in-chief of the news website Çağdaş Ses. She was accused of “making propaganda for a terrorist organization” and spent 5 months and 21 days in prison. She was sentenced to 3 years 1 month and 15 days in prison for “aiding a terrorist organization knowingly and willingly.” The appeal process continues.

Ekrem Dumanlı was the editor-in-chief of the Zaman Newspaper, which has since been closed. The prosecutor demanded an aggravated life imprisonment up to three times regarding his case, which is part of the FETÖ Media Main Case in which many writers and journalists were prosecuted. However, he was abroad when the investigation began.

Elif Aydoğmuş worked as an editor for the Özgür Gündem Newspaper. After the newspaper was shut down by the Istanbul 8th Criminal Court of Peace, she was arrested by the police officers who raided the newspaper’s building. She was accused of “resisting a public officer to prevent him from performing his duty” (TPC 265/1) and “insulting” (TPC 125).

Emin Çölaşan is a columnist for the Sözcü Newspaper. He started working as a journalist in 1977. He is being prosecuted in the Sözcü trial with the charges of “aiding a terrorist organization, though he doesn’t belong to the structure of that organisation.” The prosecutor recommends a prison sentence of up to 10 years.

Eray Sargın was the editor-in-chief of Yolculuk Newspaper. He reported the news about Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s son-in-law and then-Minister of Energy and Natural Sources, Berat Albayrak’s emails which was published by a ‘hacker’ group called ‘RedHack.’ He has been pending trial within the scope of the ‘Redhack lawsuit.’ Prosecutors have recommended he receive 16.5 years of jail time.

He has been a journalist since 1992. He was in pre-trial detention for 92 day for the news he made regarding the criminal investigation reports of the trucks which were stopped that allegedly belonged to MIT and were carrying weaponry to Syria while he was the Ankara correspondent of Cumhuriyet Newspaper. He was released after the “Violation of Rights” decision of the Constitutional Court. Through the trial process he was first sentenced to 5 years of imprisonment then acquitted.

Erdem Özden is a reporter for the Mavi Didim Newspaper. He was prosecuted without arrest for reporting the Labour Party’s (Emek Partisi) protest of the Afrin military operation. Like the other journalists from Didim, Özden was charged with “publicly provoking hatred or hostility in one section of the public against another section” (TPC 216). Özden was acquitted.

Eren Erdem is a journalist and writer. He is also a former CHP [Republican People’s Party] Member of Parliament. He was prosecuted and charged for “aiding and abetting an organization knowingly and willingly, although he does not belong to the structure of that organization,” and was sentenced to 4 years and 2 months in prison.

Eren Keskin is a lawyer, she is also a columnist and co-editor-in-chief for the Özgür Gündem newspaper. With the closing down of the Özgür Gündem, the prosecution of the columnists and managers of the newspaper began. Keskin is on trial for “being a member of a terrorist organization” and “making propaganda for a terrorist organization.”

Ertuş Bozkurt was a reporter for the Dicle News Agency who also worked as an editor and regional chief at the agency. He was jailed for the KCK Press Case on charges of “being an executive of an illegal organization.” After two and a half years in detention, he was released. The trial continues.

Detained as a reporter for the Dicle News Agency, Evrim Kepenek is on trial for the KCK Press Case on charges of “being a member of a terrorist organization.” Kepenek worked for the Cumhuriyet, Birgün, Taraf, DİHA, and Jin News. She now works as the editor of the Women and LGBTI section on the Bianet news website.

Gökmen Ulu was the İzmir correspondent for the Sözcü Newspaper. He was detained in the scope of the “FETÖ/PDY investigation” on May 26, 2017. Ulu was released in the first hearing of the trial on Nov. 8, 2017. His prosecution continues.

Günay Aksoy worked for the Özgürlükçü Demokrasi and Özgür Gündem Newspapers. She is a defendant in the trial of the raid to the Özgür Gündem Newspaper. She is accused of “being a member of a terrorist organization” and there is an arrest warrant against her.

Güray Tekin Öz is a journalist since 1971. He was prosecuted in the Cumhuriyet trial and spent 9 months in jail. He was convicted for “aiding a terrorist organization, though not belonging to the structure of that organisation” and sentenced to 3 years 9 months of prison. After the Court of Appeal approved the verdict, he had to return to prison for the remaining 1 year 23 day of his sentence. The Court of Cassation reversed the decision about Güray Tekin Öz along with all the other defendants of Cumhuriyet Newspaper. Güray Tekin Öz was released on Sept. 12, 2019.

Hakan Karasinir is a journalist. He uses Hakan Kara in his professional life. He was prosecuted in the Cumhuriyet trial and spent 9 months in jail. He was convicted of “aiding a terrorist organization, though he doesn’t belong to the structure of it” and sentenced to 3 years 9 months in prison. The Court of Appeal approved the verdict and he had to return to prison to complete the remaining 1 year 23 days of his sentence. The Court of Cassation reversed the decision about Hakan Kara along with all the other defendants of Cumhuriyet Newspaper. Hakan Kara was released on Sept. 12, 2019.

Hamza Gündüz was a reporter for the Dicle News Agency (DİHA). He is being prosecuted for his social media posts and sharing reports about Musa Çitil, a commander who led military operations during a curfew in Diyarbakır’s Sur district. He is charged for “disclosing or publishing the identities of state officials that were assigned in the fight against terrorism” (Turkish Anti-Terror Law Article 6). He was also prosecuted and sentenced to a year and 8 months in prison for “making propaganda for a terrorist organization.”

She started her journalism career at Zaman Newspaper. She was taken into custody and arrested while she was working at the Yarına Bakış Newspaper. Following the coup attempt, she was taken into custody accusing her of “taking part in the media structure of the Fetullah Terrorist Organisation (FETÖ).” Erdal was charged with “being a member of a terrorist organisation” and sentenced a 6 years and 3 months prison time. She is now in prison.

Hasan Cemal began his journalism career at Devrim magazine in 1969. After working for Yeni Ortam, Günaydın newspapers and the Anka News Agency, he started to work for the Cumhuriyet newspaper in 1973. He was the Editor-in-Chief of the Cumhuriyet newspaper from 1981 to 1992. He wrote columns for the Sabah and Milliyet newspapers. He has been writing for the T24 news website since 2013. He is the founder and president of the Platform for Independent Journalism: P24. He was prosecuted because of his article titled “From Silvan: They made us get used to the deaths and pains…” (published in T24 on Dec. 4, 2017) and charged with “making propaganda for a terrorist organization.” The court ruled to fine him.

Havva Cuştan is a correspondent for the ETHA News Agency. The prosecutor demanded a sentence of up to 22.5 years imprisonment for “being a member of a terrorist organization” and “making propaganda for a terrorist organization.” She is currently pending trial.

Hicran Urun worked for the Özgürlükçü Demokrasi newspaper as an editor. Urun was arrested in the scope of the operation against the newspaper on April 4, 2018, on the charge of “being a member of a terrorist organization” and has been detained since April 10, 2019.

Hikmet Çetinkaya has been a journalist since 1942. He was sentenced to 6 years and 3 months of prison in the Cumhuriyet trial. The Court of Appeal approved the sentence. Çetinkaya’s lawyers appealed to The Court of Cassation. The Court of Cassation ruled to reverse the decision about Çetinkaya.

He worked for almost 45 years at newspapers such as Özgür Ülke, Özgür Gündem, Halk Gerçeği, Özgürlükçü Demokrasi. Lastly he was a Co-editor-in-Chief at Özgür Gündem Newspaper. He has 63 criminal cases opened against him because of his time there. He was imprisoned after his 3 years 9 months sentence was approved. He was sent to Sinan Prison. He is still being tried for numerous cases. He was released at October 25th, 2019, after the First Package of Judicial Reforms was set in motion at October 24th, 2019, that allowed the appeal process for sentences under 5 years.

İbrahim Karayeğen was the night editor-in-chief for the Zaman Newspaper which was then shuttered. As part of the legal cases against the newspaper, the prosecutor sought a sentence of up to three times aggravated life imprisonment and an additional 15 years in prison. The charges against him were coup-plotting and terrorism. He was sentenced to 9 years in prison. The Court of Appeal upheld the sentence. His file is in the Court of Cassation.

İhsan Duran Dağı is an academic and columnist. Within the scope of the Zaman Newspaper Main Trial, he was taken under custody for 3 days and then released. At the end of the trial, he was acquitted of all the charges against him.

İlhan Tanır was a reporter for the Cumhuriyet Newspaper. He has never been on trial as he lives abroad. An indictment was issued against him but his file was separated from the case because of his location.

İsminaz Temel is an editor for Etkin News Agency (ETHA). She was jailed pending trial for 1 year, 3 months and 20 days on charges of “making propaganda for an organization” and “being a member of a terrorist organization.” She is currently pending trial.

Kadri Gürsel has been a journalist since 1986. He was prosecuted in the Cumhuriyet trial and spent 11 months in prison. He was sentenced to two and a half years of prison. The Court of Appeal approved the verdict.

Kutlu Esendemir started his career at the Cumhuriyet Newspaper. He worked for HaberTürk, Yeni Harman, Leman, and the Karşı Newspaper. In the Karşı trial, he was accused of “aiding and abetting an organization knowingly and willingly, although he does not belong to the structure of that organization” and was acquitted.

Lalezar Sarıibrahimoğlu is a columnist for the Zaman Newspaper. She was in pretrial detention for 2.5 months. She faced coup and terror related charges along with other writers and managers of the Zaman Newspaper. The prosecutor sought a sentence of up to three times aggravated life imprisonment and also an additional 7.5 to 15 years of imprisonment. She was acquitted of all charges.

She worked at Sabah Newspaper, Kanal A, Metro TV, Kral TV, Flash TV, Akşam Newspaper, Forum Newspaper and Şafak Newspaper. She was taken into custody at May 26th, 2017 in the scope of Sözcü Newspaper Case. She was released at September 22nd, 2017. In the scope of this case she is pending trial.

Journalist/Author and academician, was imprisoned for 1 year and 9 months. Despite the Violation of Rights decision of the Constitutional Court he wasn’t released for 5 and a half months. He was sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment for “attempting to abolish the constitutional order of the Republic of Turkey”. The Court of Cassation has acquitted Mehmet Altan. However he is being accused of “assisting an organisation without taking part” on the trial that restarted on October 8th, 2019.

Mehmet Aydoğmuş is a journalist. He worked for the Haberdar news website as news director. He also worked as the editor-in-chief and news director of the news website of the Karşı Newspaper. He is a fugitive defendant in the Karşı Newspaper trial.

Mehmet Bozkurt is a journalist. He worked as a reporter for the Aydınlık Newspaper. He was the deputy editor-in-chief at the Karşı Newspaper as well as the news director. Since May 2019, he has been working as the project editor in İnkilap Kitapevi, a publishing house.

Mehmet Çağlar Tekin is the chief coordinator of Yurt Newspaper. He was tried for publishing the interview of journalist Tunca Öğreten with Perihan Mağden, which was first published on Diken. He was charged for “insulting the president of the Republic.” He was acquitted of the charge after judicial proceedings.

He was the Assistant Editor-in-Chief of the Zaman Newspaper which got shut down. 3 times aggravated life imprisonment punishment was asked for him in the scope of the trial which is known as FETÖ Main Media Case. However he was abroad when the investigations commenced.

Mehmet Özdemir was the editor-in-chief of the Zaman Newspaper, which has since been shuttered. As part of the legal cases against the newspaper, the prosecutor sought three times aggravated life imprisonment and an additional 7.5 to 15 years in prisonand for “being a member of an armed organization” (314/2). The charges against him were coup-plotting and terrorism. He was acquitted after one year and nine months of pretrial detention.

Editor-in-Chief of Sözcü Newspaper. He has been working as a journalist for 43 years. In the scope of the trial against Sözcü Newspaper, he is pending trial for the accusation of “Assisting an armed terrorist organisation despite not partaking in the hierarchical structure of the organisation.”

Metin Yoksu was a reporter for the Dicle News Agency, which has since been closed. He reported the news about Tayyip Erdoğan’s son-in-law and then-Minister of Energy and Natural Sources Berat Albayrak’s emails, which were published by a ‘hacker’ group called ‘RedHack.’ He has been pending trial within the scope of the ‘Redhack lawsuit.’ Prosecutors recommended he receive 16.5 years of jail time.

Mümtazer Türköne was a columnist for the Zaman Newspaper. He was sentenced to 10 years and 6 months of imprisonment for “being a member of a terrorist organization” as part of the case where other writers and executives of the newspaper were put on trial. The Court of Appeal upheld the sentence. His file is in the Court of Cassation. He has been in Silivri Prison since Aug. 4, 2016.

Murat Kazancı is a journalist. He worked for the Hürriyet Newspaper. He was the news director of the Karşı Newspaper. He was arrested and released in the scope of the Karşı investigation. The Istanbul 23rd High Criminal Court ruled for an apprehension warrant against Kazancı on Aug. 2, 2018. His file was separated along with the other fugitive defendants in the final hearing.

Murat Sabuncu is a journalist. He worked for the Milliyet and Cumhuriyet Newspapers, as well as Tempo and Fortune magazines. He was prosecuted in the Cumhuriyet trial and spent 16 months in prison. He was sentenced to 7 years and 6 months of prison. The Court of Cassation reversed the decision which had been approved by the Court of Appeal.

Musa Kart started his career as a caricaturist in 1974. He was prosecuted in the Cumhuriyet trial. He was in prison for 9 months. He was sentenced to 3 years and 6 months of prison. After the Court of Appeal approved the verdict, he was again sent to prison.The Court of Cassation reversed the decision about Musa Kart along with all the other defendants of Cumhuriyet Newspaper. Musa Kart was released on Sept. 12, 2019.

Mustafa Çetin was the Editor-in-Chief of the Sözcü newspaper’s online news portal. He was charged for “aiding an organization knowingly and willingly, although she or he does not belong to that structure” (TPC 220/7). Çetin was released pending trial.

Mustafa Ünal was the Ankara representative of the Zaman Newspaper. In the scope of the Zaman trial, he was sentenced to 10 years, 6 months imprisonment for “being a member of an armed terrorist organization.” The Court of Appeal upheld the sentence. His file is in the Court of Cassation. Ünal has been in prison since July 30, 2016.

Nazlı Ilıcak, a journalist and writer, has been in jail since July 29, 2016 for the case known as the ‘FETÖ Media Main Case.’ Ilıcak was sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment. The decision was upheld by the Court of Appeal. The decision approved by the Court of Appeal was reversed by the Court of Cassation. However, it was ruled that Ilıcak’s detention be continued. She was a journalist and columnist for 44 years when she was arrested.

The trial restarted at October 8th, 2019.

Necati Doğru is a columnist for the Sözcü Newspaper. He is being prosecuted under the charges of “aiding and abetting a terrorist organization knowingly and willingly, though he is not a member of that organisation.” He is facing a prison sentence of up to 10 years.

Nedim Türfent started journalism in 2012 at the Dİcle News Agency (DİHA), which has been shut down by a decree law. In May 2016, he was taken into custody in Van. He was sentenced to 8 years and 9 months in prison on the charge of “being a member of an organization.” The verdict was approved by the Court of Cassation on Oct. 8, 2019. His individual appeal to the Constitutional Court is ongoing. He has been detained since May 13, 2016 in Van F Type High Security Prison.

Erdemir was the correspondent and editor for the Özgür Gündem Newspaper. Detained in December 2018 for the “KCK press” investigation, she spent 2.5 year in pretrial detention. She is still on trial on the charge of “being an executive of an organization.”

Ömer Çelik is an editor for the Mesopotamia News Agency. He was also a reporter for the Dicle News Agency (DİHA), which has since been closed. He has been pending trial from 3 separate cases on the charges of “being a member of an illegal organization”, “making propaganda for an organization” and “identifying people who took charge in fighting against terrorism as targets.”

Orhan Erinç was a columnist and the concessionaire of the Cumhuriyet Newspaper. He has continued his journalistic work since 1950’s. Erinç was sentenced to 6 years and 3 months of prison in the Cumhuriyet trial. The Court of Appeal approved the sentence. Erinç’s lawyers appealed to the Court of Cassation. The Court of Cassation reversed the decision which had been approved by the Court of Appeal.

Pelin Ünker started working as a reporter at the Cumhuriyet Newspaper in 2008, then continued her reporting at the Hürriyet’s and Deutsche Welle’s Berlin offices in 2012. Ünker’s caricatures were published in humor magazines such as Penguen, Uykusuz and the Cumhuriyet Newspaper. She received an award from the Progressive Journalists Association for her reporting on the Paradise Papers.

Pınar Gayıp is a correspondent for Etkin News Agency (ETHA). She was prosecuted with the charges of “being a member of a terrorist organization” and “making propaganda for a terrorist organization.” She was arrested on April 19, 2018. She was then released on June 13, 2019 upon the verdict of a home detention and a travel ban.

Sefer Selvi is a caricaturist. He was prosecuted for his caricatures about the “Paradise Papers” which were leaked documents that revealed politicians were evading taxes through off-shore accounts. He was sentenced to pay 10,000 TL to then Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım as compensation.

Semiha Alankuş was the editor for the Dicle News Agency and she remained in pretrial detention for 29 months within the case known as the “KCK Press.” Alankuş is on trial for “being the executive of an illegal organization.”

He was a Correspondent and USA Representative for Zaman Newspaper which got shut down. 3 times aggravated life imprisonment punishment was asked for him in the scope of the trial which is known as FETÖ Main Media Case. However he was abroad when the investigations commenced.

Şirin Kabakçı has been working as a journalist since 1990. He worked for the Cihan News Agency and the Zaman Newspaper. He was the Konya regional correspondent for the Newspaper. He remained in pretrial detention for a year and 7 months on charges of “being a member of a terrorist organization”, “defamation” and “violation of confidentiality.” His trial goes on.

Turhan Günay was the editor-in-chief of the Cumhuriyet newspaper’s book review supplement. He was prosecuted in the Cumhuriyet trial and accused of “aiding a terrorist organization.” He was imprisoned for 9 months. The Constitutional Court ruled that his rights were violated. Günay was acquitted. During his 50-year journalism career he was subjected to 787 trials.

Ufuk Emin Köroğlu is a journalist. He worked for the Sabah Newspaper as a reporter. After the foundation of the Karşı Newspaper, he worked as a reporter for the Karşı Newspaper’s website. He is a fugitive defendant in the Karşı trial.

Yücel Arı was the news coordinator of the Sözcü newspaper’s online news portal. He is pending trial for “aiding an organization knowingly and willingly, although he does not belong to that structure” within the scope of the trial of Sözcü Newspaper.