[ad_1]
An Istanbul court on Monday acquitted one of the most prominent Turkish political journalists in a long-running case on espionage charges dating from an interception of weapons on the Syrian border in 2014.
Erdem Gul, head of the Ankara office The opposition daily Cumhuriyet was acquitted by the Istanbul criminal court, reported the agency's official Anadolu press.
Gul was sentenced in May 2016 to five years in prison and his editor Can Dundar to five years. 10 months for revealing state secrets on their front page, according to which Turkish secret services have sought to deliver weapons to Syrian rebels.
Despite their pre-trial detention, they could not be thrown into prison immediately. 19659002] But in an extremely complex process, the highest court of appeal in Turkey broke both convictions in March, stating that Gul should be acquitted but Dundar sentenced to a harsher sentence of up to 20 years .
The Gul and Dundar cases are now separated and Dundar is still on trial
Gul is still working in his job for Cumhuriyet, but Dundar left Turkey for Germany shortly after the initial verdict. refused to put his head "under the guillotine".
Cumhuriyet's report on a cargo of arms intercepted at the Syrian border in January 2014 sparked an uproar upon its publication, fueling speculation about Turkey's role in the Syrian conflict and its alleged links with Syria. Islamist groups.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reacted furiously to the allegations, personally warning Dundar that he "would pay a heavy price".
He accused Fethullah Gulen, the US-based preacher, who was blamed by Turkey for the missed 2016 coup, for provoking the scandal to discredit his government.
He was the first in a number of criminal cases multiplied after the failed coup d'etat of July 2016 against Erdogan and magnified concerns over press freedoms in the country.
In a separate case, 13 journalists and staff members of Cumhuriyet were sentenced to imprisonment for up to seven and a half years. April on charges related to terrorism, which, according to critics, was a punishment for the anti-Erdogan position of the newspaper.
They are all still free, waiting for the call. Gul remains on trial in another separate case
© Agence France-Presse
[ad_2]
Source link
