IPI blasts interim decision returning five to prison in case ‘punishing those who speak out’
Members of Turkey's security services stand guard outside the courthouse in the Silivri prison complex at the close of the trial of 18 journalists, executives and staff from the indepedent daily Cumhuriyet newspaper in Silivri, on the outskirts of Istanbul, on Sept. 11, 2017. More officers in similar armour, minus helmets, ringed the defendants in the courtroom as an interim verdict was read out at the close of a 13-hour-day of proceedings. REUTERS/Osman Orsal
The International Press Institute (IPI) blasted yesterday’s court ruling in Turkey extending the detention of five Cumhuriyet journalists, executives and staff another two weeks, and renewed calls for their release.
Judges in a courtroom inside the high-security Silivri prison complex on the outskirts of Istanbul, where four of the five have been held since last year, again rejected the defendants’ request for release pending trial, saying it first wanted to hear more witness testimony.