Journalists in State of Emergency – 67

 
An indictment accusing 13 journalists including Meydan columnist Atilla Taş, former Yeni Şafak writer Murat Aksoy and TürkSolu magazine editor Gökçe Fırat Çulhaoğlu was submitted to a court on June 6.
 
The indicted are accused of “attempting to overthrow the constitutional order” and “attempting to overthrow the government of the Republic of Turkey.” The prosecutor demands two life sentences for each suspect without the possibility of parole.
 
The 314-page document, drafted by Istanbul Chief Prosecutor İrfan Fidan lists journalists  Gökçe Fırat Çulhaoğlu, Yakup Çetin, Bünyamin Köseli, Cihan Acar, Abdullah Kılıç, Oğuz Usluer, Atilla Taş, Hüseyin Aydın, Murat Aksoy, Mustafa Erkan, Seyit Kılıç, Yetkin Yıldız and Ali Akkuş as suspects.
 
The 13 journalists were all released by a court ruling on March 31 in a trial where they stood accused of “membership of a terrorist organization,” but then detained again on charges of “attempting a coup.” All but one — Ali Akkuş — were rearrested on the new charges.
 
The Chief Prosecutor’s Office has submitted the indictment to the 25th High Criminal Court, requesting that it be merged with the ongoing trial where the journalists were accused of “membership of a terrorist” organization.
 
Evrensel executives convicted for “insult” crime
 
On June 6, the Responsible Managing Editor for the independent daily Evrensel, Çağrı Sarı and the former copyrights owner of the newspaper, Arif Koşar, were convicted and given a five-month prison term under Article 301 of the Turkish Criminal Code which criminalizes “Denigrating the Turkish Nation, the State of the Republic of Turkey, the Agencies and Institutions of the State.”
 
Sarı and Koşar were tried by the Istanbul 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance regarding a story published by Evrensel.
 
The court found that the two editors had committed the crime stipulated under Article 301 and handed down a five-month prison sentence to each journalist.
 
DİHA journalists released from custody
 
On June 6, head of the executive board of the shuttered Dicle News Agency (DİHA) Zekeriya Güzüpek and the Kurdish-language editions editor Mehmet Ali Ertaş were released from police custody where they had been kept since May 31.
 
The two journalists were taken into custody under suspicion of “participating in a protest action on behalf of the terrorist organization.” They were kept at a detention center for seven days and released after testifying to a prosecutor.
 
 
BirGün journalists released from prison
 
BirGün newspaper’s copyrights owner İbrahim Aydın and former Responsible Managing Editor Berkant Gültekin were released from prison after spending six days, serving part of a 21-month conviction regarding a news story published in the newspaper.
 
The two were released on 3 June under a law, which allows convicts who have received a prison term of less than 24-months to be released under judicial probation.
 
The number of journalists in prison has gone down to 167 following the release of the two Birgün journalists. The full list can be viewed here. 
 
 
Aydınlık editor-in-chief released after one day of imprisonment
 
On June 4, İlker Yücel, the editor-in-chief of the Aydınlık newspaper, was released from prison following his arrested on June 3.
 
Yücel was first taken into police custody and later arrested under court order and placed in pretrial detention for the failure of his newspaper to pay a TL 100,000 fine issued for not publishing a correction regarding a news report on Energy Minister Berat Albayrak.
 
 
Court upholds conviction of journalist Doğan
 
On June 2, a court ruled to uphold a two-year and nine-month prison term handed down to editor of the shuttered Jinha news agency Zehra Doğan.
 
Doğan was detained in July 2016 on charges of “membership in a terrorist organization” and “spreading propaganda for a terrorist organization” on the basis of statements from secret witnesses. She was released pending trial after 4.5 months in prison.
 
On March 2, a court sentenced Doğan to a prison term of two years nine months and 22 days.
 
 
Cihan Muğla Bureau Chief held by police
 
On June 1, police in Muğla province held eight people, including the former regional bureau chief of the shuttered Cihan news agency on suspicion of using the chat software ByLock, allegedly used by the members of the group which plotted the July 15 coup attempt.
 
The former Cihan journalist was identified only with his initials as K.A. in news reports.
 
            Name, publication
1         Abdulkadir Turay, DİHA reporter
2         Abdullah Kılıç, Habertürk
3         Abdullah Özyurt, Zaman reporter
4         Abdulvahap İş (Freelance journalist)
5         Abdürrahim Ersöz, Antalya
6         Ahmet Altan
7         Ahmet Memiş, Gazeteci, Haberdar news website
8         Ahmet Metin Sekizkardeş, Zaman journalist
9         Ahmet Şık, Cumhuriyet reporter
10       Ahmet Turan Alkan, Zaman
11       Ahmet Yavaş, TRT (Erzurum)
12       Akın Atalay, Pres. of Cumhuriyet Foundation Executive Board
13       Alaattin Güner, Cihan media director
14       Ali Ahmet Böken, TRT News coordinator
15       Ali Aşikar – Azadiya Welat
16       Ali Babür Boysal, Zaman page designer
17       Ali Bulaç, Eski Zaman columnist
18       Ali Konar, Azadiya Welat bureau chief
19       Ali Ünal, Zaman columnist
20       Ali Yüce, TRT Radio broadcasts chief
21       Arafat Dayan, Demokratik Ulus
22       Aslı Ceren Aslan, Özgür Gelecek
23       Atilla Taş, Meydan columnist
24       Ayhan Demir, Çaldıran News Agency
25       Ayşe Nazlı Ilıcak
26       Ayşenur Parıldak, Zaman, Haberdar
27       Aytekin Gezici, journalist/writer
28       Aziz İstegün, Diyarbakır Zaman representative
29       Bayram Kaya, Zaman reporter
30       Beytullah Özdemir, Zaman Düzce bureau chief
31       Burçin Dokgöz, former Zaman and Çorum reporter
32       Bülent Utku, Cumhuriyet Foundation board member
33       Bünyamin Köseli, Aksiyon magazine reporter
34       Cebrail Parıltı, Anadolu Ajansı (AA) Derik reporter
35       Cemal Azmi Kalyoncu, Journalists and Writers’ Foundation
36       Ceren Taşkın, Hatay'ın Sesi
37       Cihan Acar, Bugün reporter
38       Cuma Kaya, Zaman
39       Cuma Ulus, Millet newspaper’s publications coordinator
40       Deniz Yücel, Die Welt
41       Emin Demir, Freelancer
42       Emre Soncan, Zaman defense reporter
43       Ercan Gün, Fox TV
44       Erdal Süsem, Eylül magazine editor
45       Erdal Şen, former Meydan managing editor
46       Erol Yüksel (TRT News Department vice president))
47       Erol Zavar, Odak magazine, owner and newsroom director
48       Fahrettin Kılıç, Özgür Toplum
49       Faruk Akkan, Cihan news agency
50       Ferhat Çiftçi, Azadiya Welat Gaziantep bureau chief
51       Fevzi Yazıcı
52       Gökçe Fırat Çulhaoğlu, Türksolu columnist
53       Gökmen Ulu, Sözcü
54       Gurbet Çakar, Hevi women’s magazine
55       Gültekin Avcı
56       Güray Tekin Öz, columnist
57       Habip Güler, Zaman reporter
58       Hakan Aksel, TRT producer-director
59       Hakan Ergün, Azadiya Welat and Özgür Gündem distributor
60       Hakan Karasinir, columnist
61       Hakan Taşdelen
62       Halil İbrahim Mert, TRT (Erzurum)
63       Hamit Dilbahar, Azadiya Welat columnist
64       Hamza Günerigök, TRT
65       Hanım Büşra Erdal, Zaman reporter and columnist
66       Hasan Duman, Özgürlükçü Demokrasi distributor
67       Haşim Söylemez, Aksiyon columnist
68       Hatice Duman, Atılım newspaper’s owner and managing editor
69       Hayati Yıldız, Azadiya Welat
70       Hidayet Karaca, Samanyolu Media Group President
71       Hülya Karakaya, Özgür Halk Managing Editor
72       Hüseyin Aydın, Cihan reporter
73       Hüseyin Turan, Zaman columnist
74       İbrahim Balta, Zaman business editor
75       İbrahim Kareyeğen, responsible editor for Zaman
76       İdris Okur, Cihan New Agency Çorum reporter
77       İdris Sayılgan, DİHA
78       İlker İlkan, Azadiya Welat
79       İnan Kızılkaya, Özgür Gündem Newsroom Editor
80       İsa Siyi, Haberdar
81       İsmail Avcı, Zaman
82       İsmail Efe, local press advisor in İzmir
83       Kadri Gürsel, Editorial Advisor
84       Kamuran Sunbat, DİHA Çukurova reporter (formerly)
85       Kazım Kızıl, Kamera Sokak
86       Kemal Sancılı, Özgür Gündem copyrights holder
87       Kenan Karavil, Radyo Dünya editor-in-chief
88       Lokman Erdoğan, Çorum Manşet, owner
89       Mahir Kanaat, BirGün, head of accountingn
90       Mediha Olgun, Sözcü
91       Mehmet Altan
92       Mehmet Baransu, Taraf columnist/reporter
93       Mehmet Dener, Şanlıurfa.com editor-in-chief
94       Mehmet Güleş, DİHA
95       Mehmet Kuru, Zaman Eskişehir reporter
96       Mehmet Özdemir, Zaman columnist
97       Meltem Oktay, DİHA reporter
98       Meşale Tolu, ETHA translater
99       Mikail Barut, Özgür Halk former editor
100     Miktat Algül, Mezitli FM General Publications Coordinator
101     Mizgin Çay – Radyo Karacadağ
102     Muhammet Taşçılar, Şanlıurfa.com editor-in-chief
103     Murat Aksoy,former Yeni Şafak columnist
104     Murat Avcıoğlu, Zaman
105     Murat Çapan,
106     Murat Dağdeviren (Demokrat Gebze owner)
107     Murat Sabuncu, Editor-in- Chief
108     Musa Kart, Cartoonist
109     Mustafa Erkan Acar, Bugün news editor,
110     Mustafa Gök, Ankara bureau chief for Ekmek ve Adalet magazine
111     Mustafa Kemal Güngör, Cumhuriyet Foundation board member
112     Mustafa Ünal, Zaman
113     Mutlu Çölgeçen, Millet, newsroom coordinator
114     Mümtazer Türköne, Zaman columnist
115     Nadir Yücel, Çorum Yıldız (local) Editor-in-Chief
116     Nedim Türfent,DİHA
117     Nizamettin İzgi (Batman Newspaper’s owner)
118     Nur Ener, Yeni Asya
119     Nuri Durna, TRT
120     Nuri Yeşil, Azadiya Welat Dersim bureau chief
121     Nurullah Kaya, G.antep Zaman representative
122     Oğuz Güven, Cumhuriyet
123     Oğuz Usluer, Habertürk former broadcasts coordinator
124     Osman Yakut, Zaman Antalya
125     Ozan Kaplanoğlu, Bursa Muhalif
126     Ömer Çelik, DİHA news manager
127     Ömer Oruç, Cihan newspaper
128     Ömer Özdemir, Antalya eski Zaman muhabiri
129     Önder Çelik, Cumhuriyet Foundation board member
130     Özcan Keser (TRT reporter)
131     Özgür Amed (Ethem Çağır), Özgür Gündem writer
132     Rabia Özkaya, Özgür Halk
133     Ramazan Alkan, Yeni Akit reporter
134     Resul Cengiz, Denizli reporter with Zaman
135     Sadık Demir – Radyo Karacadağ
136     Salih Erbekler – Radyo Karacadağ
137     Sami Tunca, Mücadele Birliği magazine Managing Editor
138     Selman Keleş, DİHA
139     Serhat Şeftali, Zaman regional bureau chief for the Med region
140     Serkan Aydemir, Bitlis Aktüel reporter
141     Seyid Kılıç, TRT News
142     Seyithan Akyüz, Azadiya Welat Adana bureau chief
143     Sezgin Kartal, Sosyalist Dayanımşa magazine
144     Şahabettin Demir, DİHA reporter
145     Şahin Alpay, Zaman columnist
146     Şeref Yılmaz, Irmak TV
147     Şerife Oruç, DİHA reporter
148     Şirin Çoban, Azadiya Welat
149     Tahsin Kürklü, Zaman – head of Logistics Department
150     Togay Okay, Özgür Gelecek
151     Tunca Öğreten, former Diken editor
152     Tuncer Çetinkaya, Zaman Antalya
153     Turhan Günay, Chief Editor of Cumhuriyet supplement
154     Ufuk Şanlı, former Vatan columnist
155     Ulaş Sezgin, ETHA reporter
156     Ünal Tanık, Rota Haber editor-in-chief
157     Vahit Yazgan, İzmir Zaman bureau chief
158     Vedat Beki, Sözcü 18
159     Vedat Demir, former Yarına Bakış writer
160     Yakup Çetin, Zaman reporter
161     Yakup Şimşek, Zaman, marketing director
162     Yalçın Güler, TRT (Erzurum)
163     Yener Dönmez, Habervaktim news website
164     Yetkin Yıldız, Aktif Haber website editor
165     Yılmaz Kahraman, Özgür Halk editor
166     Zafer Özsoy
167     Ziya Ataman, DİHA reporter