Yakup Çetin was a legal correspondent for the now-closed Zaman newspaper. He was detained on 26 July 2016 on charges “being affiliated with FETÖ media organisation”. He was remanded in custody on 29 July 2016. The indictment charged Çetin with “membership of an armed terrorist organisation”. The prosecution demanded that Çetin be sentenced to imprisonment of between five years and 10 years. He was released at the hearing of the trial that was held on 31 March 2017. Çetin was placed in custody again the same day over a new investigation commenced concerning him. The second indictment charged Çetin with “attempting to destroy the constitutional order” and “attempting to destroy the government”. The prosecution demanded that Çetin be sentenced to two aggravated life sentences. He was sentenced to imprisonment of six years and three months on the charge of “membership of an armed terrorist organisation” at the end of the trial process. The ruling was approved by the court of appeals. However, the Court of Cassation overturned the ruling. The local court responsible for the retrial ruled that Çetin be released on 15 June 2020. The retrial concerning Çetin is currently underway.
Was a reporter at Mezapotamya Agency. He was accused of “making propaganda for a terrorist organisation in a successive manner” for his social media posts. He was requested to be sentenced to from one year three months to eight years nine months of imprisonment. He was sentenced to one year six months 22 days. Announcement of the sentence was deferred.
Yetkin Yıldız was the executive director of the Aktif Haber news website, to which access has been restricted. He was detained on 23 July 2016 on charges “being affiliated with FETÖ’s media organisation”. He was remanded in custody on 24 July 2016. The indictment charged Yıldız with “membership of an armed terrorist organisation”. The prosecution demanded that Yıldız be sentenced to imprisonment of between five years and 10 years. He was released at the hearing of the trial that was held on 31 March 2017. Yıldız was placed in custody again the same day over a new investigation commenced concerning him. The second indictment charged Yıldız with “attempting to destroy the constitutional order” and “attempting to destroy the government”. The prosecution demanded that Yıldız be sentenced to two aggravated life sentences. Yıldız was sentenced to imprisonment of seven years and six months on charges of “membership of an armed terrorist organisation” at the end of the trial process. The court of appeals approved the ruling. However, the Court of Cassation overturned the ruling. The local court responsible for the retrial ruled that Yıldız be released on 15 June 2020. The retrial concerning Yıldız is currently underway.
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. At the end of the trials he was sentenced to 1 year 13 months of imprisonment for the accused crimes. The verdict was upheld by the court of appeal, and now the appeal process continues at the Court of Cassation.
She was an editor-in-chief with Gündem newspaper and a columnist with Özgür Gündem newspaper closed down with a decree law during the State of Emergency. She was taken under custody on December 20th, 2011, under the investigation popularly known as “KCK Press Trial”. She remained in prison for 29 months under this trial. She faces 15 years to 22.5 years in prison for “establishing and leading an armed terror organization”. She is out of prison but her trial continues.
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