Turhan Günay

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.

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.

It was an ironic coincidence that more than a dozen executives and journalists from the daily Cumhuriyet appeared in court on Press Freedom Day. Twelve out of 17 have been in prison since November 2016 and it took nine months for them to defend themselves in court.

A Turkish opposition newspaper itself is the story as 17 of its employees are about to go on trial on charges of aiding a terrorist organisation, BBC reported.

If found guilty, their sentence could be up to 43 years in jail.

A dozen of Cumhuriyet's journalists and managers are behind bars in pre-trial detention. Ten of them have been imprisoned for almost nine months.

Our colleague Utku Çakırözer, one of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) parliamentarians who used to be a journalist, has visited some journalists currently jailed in Silivri prison during Eid el-Fitr.

Jailed journalist Kadri Gürsel did nothing wrong; he did not steal and did not kill. He is as pure as can be. He is only but only a journalist, but he is in jail under arrest. Just like other journalistic colleagues of his, he does not know what he is accused of because there is no indictment. 

The Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has nominated prominent Turkish journalist Kadri Gürsel, who has been in jail for 116 days, for the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize.

His wife, Nazire Kalkan Gürsel, announced the nomination via her official Twitter account.

Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Istanbul deputy Barış Yarkadaş read out a message from daily Cumhuriyet's imprisoned editor-in-chief, Murat Sabuncu, in parliament's general assembly on Dec. 6. 

Launching legal proceedings against daily Cumhuriyet on accusations of support for terrorism is an explicit indication of a witch hunt against dissidents, the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) has stated, in a report prepared after a party visit to the newspaper's imprisoned journalists.