ISTANBUL: An Istanbul court on Wednesday acquitted the Turkey representative for Reporters Without Borders (RSF) as well as two other campaigners for press freedom on trial for terrorism charges, their lawyers said.
RSF representative Erol Onderoglu, Human Rights Foundation of Turkey president Sebnem Korur Fincanci and author Ahmet Nesin were jailed briefly in 2016 but later released as their trial continued, a British wire service reported.
The defendants were accused of carrying out terrorist propaganda and incitement to crime after guest-editing Ozgur Gundem, a newspaper on Kurdish issues, and campaigning against efforts to censor it.
Lawyer Meric Eyuboglu said the verdict was bittersweet because others who also guest-edited the newspaper had received jail sentences. “We were thinking that they would receive a sentence because of the verdicts in other similar cases and the political juncture we are going through,” she said.
“We had a surprise today and they were acquitted,” added the lawyer, who represented Fincanci. Paris-based RSF welcomed the verdict but called for charges in the separate case against Onderoglu to be dropped. “We are deeply relieved by @ErolOnderoglu’s and his colleague’s acquittal. BUT 3 years of absurd proceedings was already a form of unjust punishment,” it said on Twitter.
During the meeting, the duo discussed human rights situation in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir
Poliovirus in Quetta was detected in the environmental sample collected on March 26, 2024, from the ‘Surpul’...
Local police and the district administration reached the scene and evacuated the staff
Court also directed the speaker of the KP Assembly to carry out his constitutional responsibilities and administer...
Director-General Zafar Sultan and senior journalist Siddique Sajid were among 12 Namazis at Jumaa prayers who lost...
According to Pakistan High Commission in London, Gen Sanders stated that there was no comparison to the Pakistan...