ISTANBUL: An Istanbul court on Monday acquitted one of Turkey’s most prominent political journalists in a long-running case on espionage charges dating back to an arms interception on the Syrian border in 2014.
Erdem Gul, the Ankara bureau chief of the opposition Cumhuriyet daily, was acquitted by the Istanbul criminal court, the state-run Anadolu news agency said.
Gul had in May 2016 been sentenced to five years in jail and his then editor-in-chief Can Dundar to five years and 10 months for revealing state secrets over their front-page story which alleged Turkish secret services sought to deliver arms to Syria rebels.
Despite spending time in pre-trial detention, neither was sent to jail immediately and both walked free pending appeal.
But in a hugely complex process, Turkey’s top appeals court in March quashed both convictions, saying that Gul should be acquitted but Dundar given a stiffer sentence of up to 20 years. A retrial then commenced.
The cases of Gul and Dundar have now been separated and Dundar remains on trial.
Gul is still working in his job for Cumhuriyet but Dundar left Turkey for Germany shortly after the initial verdict, saying he refused to put his head “under the guillotine.”
Cumhuriyet’s report on a shipment of arms intercepted at the Syrian border in January 2014 sparked a furor when it was published, fueling speculation about Turkey’s role in the Syrian conflict and its alleged ties to Islamist groups.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had reacted furiously to the allegations, personally warning Dundar he would “pay a heavy price.”
He has accused Fethullah Gulen, the US-based preacher blamed by Turkey for the 2016 failed coup, of instigating the scandal to discredit his government.
It was the first in a number of high profile criminal cases against journalists which multiplied after the failed July 2016 coup against Erdogan and amplified concerns over press freedoms in the country.
In a separate case, 13 journalists and staff from Cumhuriyet were given jail sentences of up to seven-and-a-half years in late April on terror-linked charges, which critics said was punishment for the paper’s anti-Erdogan stance.
They are all however still free pending appeal. Gul remains on trial in another separate case.
Turkey acquits top journalist in ‘espionage’ case
Turkey acquits top journalist in ‘espionage’ case
Foreign press group welcomes Israel court deadline on Gaza access
- Supreme Court set deadline for responding to petition filed by the Foreign Press Association to Jan. 4
- Since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023, Israeli authorities have prevented foreign journalists from independently entering the Strip
JERUSALEM: The Foreign Press Association in Jerusalem on Sunday welcomed the Israeli Supreme Court’s decision to set January 4 as the deadline for Israel to respond to its petition seeking media access to Gaza.
Since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023, sparked by Palestinian militant group Hamas’s attack on Israel, Israeli authorities have prevented foreign journalists from independently entering the devastated territory.
Israel has instead allowed, on a case-by-case basis, a handful of reporters to accompany its troops into the blockaded Palestinian territory.
The Foreign Press Association (FPA), which represents hundreds of foreign journalists in Israel and the Palestinian territories, filed a petition to the supreme court last year, seeking immediate access for international journalists to the Gaza Strip.
On October 23, the court held a first hearing on the case, and decided to give Israeli authorities one month to develop a plan for granting access.
Since then the court has given several extensions to the Israeli authorities to come up with their plan, but on Saturday it set January 4 as a final deadline.
“If the respondents (Israeli authorities) do not inform us of their position by that date, a decision on the request for a conditional order will be made on the basis of the material in the case file,” the court said.
The FPA welcomed the court’s latest directive.
“After two years of the state’s delay tactics, we are pleased that the court’s patience has finally run out,” the association said in a statement.
“We renew our call for the state of Israel to immediately grant journalists free and unfettered access to the Gaza Strip.
“And should the government continue to obstruct press freedoms, we hope that the supreme court will recognize and uphold those freedoms,” it added.
An AFP journalist sits on the board of the FPA.
