ANKARA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd November, 2019) The Istanbul Court has upheld the conviction of over a dozen former employees of Turkish opposition newspaper Cumhuriyet, Sezgin Tanrikulu, a lawmaker from the Republican People's Party (CHP), said on Thursday.
"Despite the previous verdict by the court of cassation, the Istanbul court today decided to insist that the defendants are guilty. The judicial panel that was considering the case is new, it was organized just a week ago," Tanrikuli said in his video message on Twitter.
In April 2018, 15 Cumhuriyet employees were sentenced to jail terms of up to seven years on charges of terrorism, and supporting the Kurdistan Workers' Party, Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front and Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen, who has been accused by Ankara of masterminding the 2016 failed coup against the government. All of the accused have denied the charges against them and argued that the case is a political maneuver aimed at silencing the opposition.
Most of the detained journalists were later released. In September of this year, the court of cassation ordered the release of five Cumhuriyet employees. In October, the last newspaper staff member was let out of prison.
