14 journalists charged with terrorism charges in Turkey
Istanbul : An Istanbul court on Wednesday sentenced 14 journalist from Cumhuriyet Republic Daily, Turkey's oldest newspaper, over terrorism charges.
According to Anadolu news agency, Cumhuriyet Editor-in-Chief Murat Sabuncu, Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) Akin Atalay and Orhan Erinc, and three journalists - Ahmet Sik, Aydin Engin, and Hikmet Cetinkaya were sentenced to six to eight years of imprisonment on charges of "acting on behalf of a terrorist group without being members."
Kart, Hakan Karasinir, Mustafa Kemal Gungor, Onder Celik, and Yusuf Emre Iper were sentenced to four years in prison, as per the report.
The Cumhuriyet daily was one of the few newspapers in Turkey which was critical of the views of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The Istanbul court also sentenced a Twitter user named Ahmet Kemal Aydogdu to 10 years to imprisonment, who was accused of having maintained a popular Twitter account @Jeansbiri, which was allegedly affiliated with the Gulen movement, the report said.
Dent on the freedom of media has attracted severe criticism from the international media houses.
(with info from agencies)
