Turkish prosecutor files new charges against four Zaman journalists

A Turkish court filed new charges against four journalists who worked for the Zaman newspaper which was first seized in March 4, 2016 and then closed down by Turkish government under the state of emergency declared in the aftermath of a controversial coup attempt on July 15, 2016.

According to a report by independent news site P24, an İstanbul prosecutor changed the charges against Zaman night-shift editor İbrahim Karayeğen, editor Mehmet Özdemir and columnists Orhan Kemal Cengiz and İhsan Dağı, all of whom were previously accused of membership of a terror organisation and allegedly playing a role in the coup.

Karayeğen and Özdemir, who had previously been accused of “attempting to destroy the constitutional order,” carrying a prison sentences of up to 15 years, are now charged with “leading an armed terror group,” which could lead to jail terms of up to 22 years and six months.

The prosecutor in the cases against Cengiz and Dağı changed their charges to “continuous propaganda for a terror organisation,”and requested a 13-year jail sentence for both.

A total of 30 columnists and staff who worked for Zaman, once one of Turkey’s highest circulation newspapers, are now on trial.

Turkey is ranked 157th among 180 countries in the 2018 World Press Freedom Index released by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) on Wednesday. If Turkey falls two more places, it will make it to the list of countries on the blacklist, which have the poorest record in press freedom.

Turkey is the biggest jailer of journalists in the world. The most recent figures documented by SCF show that 254 journalists and media workers were in jail as of May 3, 2018, most in pretrial detention. Of those in prison 192 were under arrest pending trial while only 62 journalists have been convicted and are serving their time. Detention warrants are outstanding for 142 journalists who are living in exile or remain at large in Turkey.

Detaining tens of thousands of people over alleged links to the Gülen movement, the government also closed down about 200 media outlets, including Kurdish TVs and papers, after a coup attempt in Turkey on July 15, 2016.

from Stockholm Center for Freedom https://stockholmcf.org/turkish-prosecutor-files-new-charges-against-four-zaman-journalists/