The trial of many well-known Turkish journalists who have been indicted for synergy in the failed coup d'état in July 2016 - a case that has exacerbated the concerns of the defenders of press freedom - a correspondent of the French Agency found, was launched today in a court in Istanbul.
A total of 17 persons, among them many journalists, including the Ahmet and Mehmet Altan brothers and chronologist Nazili Iliţak, are in danger of being sentenced to life imprisonment. They are accused of "trying to overthrow the government" and "attempting to overthrow the constitutional order".
This is the first time journalists are brought to trial as part of the judicial prosecution of the failed military coup on July 15, the responsibility for which President Recep Tayyip Erdogan blamed the exiled US preacher, Fetoulah Gullen. The latter denies having any involvement.
Iliţak, a journalist and writer who worked until 2013 for the broad-based pro-government newspaper Sabah, is the first known media personality to be arrested for the attempted coup. It remains in custody since the end of July.
Ahmet Altan is a novelist and journalist who worked on the large circulation of Hurriyet and Milliyet, while he founded the opposition newspaper Taraf. Mehmet Altan is a writer who has published many works on Turkish politics.
The three journalists are mostly accused of acting as apologists for the coup attempt that was to be made during a broadcast of a Turkish television station supporting Gullen, Can Erzincan.
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