Akın Atalay

An Istanbul court on March 16 ordered the continuation of Akın Atalay and Ahmet Kemal Aydoğdu’s imprisonment in the Cumhuriyet case, rejecting the lawyers’ demands for their release.

Earlier this month, as I prepared myself for a retinal scan to enter a notorious prison in Istanbul, my mind wandered beyond freedom of press to equally important areas for the media and all of us, such as privacy rights, network security, governments, Big Tech, advertisers and concentration of power.

The trial of 20 executives and journalists from daily Cumhuriyet, including the newspaper's editor-in-chief Murat Sabuncu, reporter Ahmet Şık, columnist Kadri Gürsel and cartoonist Musa Kart, will resume on Sept. 25 at Istanbul's Çağlayan courthouse.  

The sixth hearing of the trial of 17 executives and journalists from the daily Cumhuriyet, including the newspaper's Editor-in-Chief Murat Sabuncu, Ahmet Şık, Kadri Gürsel and cartoonist Musa Kart, will take place today in a hearing room across Istanbul's Silivri Prison. 

Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Nils Muiznieks has reportedly intervened in the cases against jailed Turkish journalists, to which the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has agreed to give priority and demanded Turkey's defense.

The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) has formed a special commission to examine the case of its jailed Istanbul lawmaker Enis Berberoğlu. 

The commission consisting of legal experts and journalists will follow the process of the case closely. 

Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has accused the prosecutors in the daily Cumhuriyet case of being members of the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ).

Seven journalists and executives from daily Cumhuriyet were released from Istanbul’s Silivri prison late on July 28 after a local court ordered their release in the case which they had been tried on terror charges.

An Istanbul court on July 28 ordered the release of seven daily Cumhuriyet journalists, executives but ruled for the continuation of arrest for another five who are being accused on charges of "supporting terror." 

The released journalists and executives were cartoonist Musa Kart, Bülent Utku, Turan Günay, Önder Çelik, Kemal Güngör, Hakan Karasinir and Güray Öz.

The last day of the first hearings in the case of daily Cumhuriyet journalists and executives began on July 28, as a verdict is expected to be announced in the evening hours. 

All 17 journalists and executives from the daily have testified over the past five days.