Six Turkish journalists jailed for life for "coup links"

A Turkish court has sentenced six journalists to life in jail for alleged links to the July 2016 coup plotters.
The six sentenced journalists are Nazli Ilicak, Ahmet Altan, Mehmet Altan, Fevzi Yazici, Yakup Simsek and Sukru Tugrul Ozsengul.


The Altan brothers, who are both veteran journalists and writers, were accused of giving coded messages in a television talk show on the eve of the coup attempt.

The journalists were all found guilty of links to US-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen, blamed over the failed coup. The Istanbul court found them guilty of "attempting to abolish the order prescribed by the Turkish constitution or to bring in a new order", Turkish media reported.

All six journalists denied the charges.

The court ruling was condemned by human rights groups, including the UN and OSCE representatives on media freedom.
"These harsh sentences are an unacceptable and unprecedented assault on freedom of expression and on the media in Turkey," said David Kaye, the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of expression, and Harlem Desir, the representative on media freedom for the Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE).

                                                                                                Deniz Yucel

Military officers led a mutiny against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on 15 July 2016 which resulted in the deaths of 250 civilian protesters. Since the abortive coup, the Turkish authorities have jailed more than 50,000 people and dismissed more than 150,000 public servants, including journalists, teachers, police and justice officials.