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Defendants: Faruk Eren, Ertuğrul Mavioğlu, Celal Başlangıç, İhsan Çaralan, Fehmi Işık, Öncü Akgül, Ömer Ağın, Celalettin Can, Hüseyin Aykol, Veysel Kemer, Dilşah Karakaya and Yüksel Oğuz

Media Outlet and Position: Özgür Gündem – Co-editor-in-chiefs, editors and journalists

Accusations: Terrorist propaganda

Possible sentence: 7,5 up to 13 years

Court: İstanbul 14. High Criminal Court

Case Background: 

Editors, journalists and columnists for now-shuttered Özgür Gündem newspaper were brought to court on the accusations of “overtly inciting a crime” and “terrorist propaganda” for the daily’s articles and reports.

Journalists are being tried for their participation in the solidarity campaign, “Editors-in-Chief on Watch” for the newspaper Özgür Gündem.

The case has 12 defendants. They are also being prosecuted in a separate case on charges of “publicly inciting a crime, praising a crime and the criminal”.

During the most recent hearing on May 7, the prosecution demanded various jail terms for 11 journalists on the charges of  “terrorist propaganda”.

The prosecutor demanded up to 7.5 years in prison for Mavioğlu, Başlangıç, Akgül, Eren, Çaralan, Işık and Can on charges of “conducting propaganda for an armed terrorist organization”, while asking 13 years for Aykol. Ömer Ağın, Veysel Kemer, Dilşah Karakaya and Yüksel Oğuz are facing imprisonment up to 7,5 years each over “terrorist propaganda” under articles 302/1, 314/2, 220/1,2,8 and 3713 of the Turkish anti-terror law.