Prosecutor says spying charges 'unfounded' in Cumhuriyet journalists' trial

Public prosecutor Evliya Çal??kan has said "espionage" charges against daily Cumhuriyet journalists Can Dündar and Erdem Gül, who are on trial for reporting on Turkish intelligence trucks allegedly transporting weapons to rebel groups in Syria, are "unfounded." 

However, Çal??kan still demanded 25 years in jail for editor-in-chief Dündar and 10 years in jail for Ankara bureau chief Gül for "revealing state secrets," Cumhuriyet reported. 

The prosecutor said requirements for espionage charges according to Supreme Court of Appeals case law have not been fulfilled in the Dündar and Gül case, stating that no evidence existed on the country on whose behalf Dündar and Gül was spying on Turkey. 

Nevertheless, Çal??kan demanded 25 years in jail for Dündar on charges of "being complicit in acquiring and revealing information that should remain secret, either for the security of the state or for the domestic or international benefit of the state." He also asked for 10 years in prison for Gül for revealing information that should remain secret.

"A corrupt understanding of press freedoms is not in compliance with national or international legal norms or modern state practices," the prosecutor said, slamming Dündar for neglecting national security, national interest, state secrets and court decisions. 

Çal??kan also referred to excerpts from Dündar's recently published book describing the period before and after the printing of the intel trucks story, "Tutukland?k" ("We are Under Arrest" in Turkish), in which Dündar described the warnings of their lawyer. According to the book, Dündar's lawyer said revealing state secrets was a crime that requires heavy punishment and serving jail time is "inevitable." 

Çal??kan said this...