The Ankara Regional Court of Appeal finalized the case in which eleven journalists were on trial. The six-year-three-month prison sentences handed down against Mezopotamya Agency (MA) reporters Diren Yurtsever, Selman Güzelyüz, Emrullah Acar, Zemo Ağgöz, JINNEWS News Director Öznur Değer, and journalists Deniz Nazlım and Hakan Yalçın were upheld by the Court of Cassation.
The Dicle Firat Journalists Association (DFG) protested the decision on its social media account on X. The DFG wrote that the approval of the sentences is another link in the recent chain of attacks on press freedom and stated the following: “The Ankara 4th High Criminal Court unlawfully sentenced our colleagues without any evidence, solely because of their journalistic activities. The 22nd Penal Chamber then approved these sentences and contributed to this unlawfulness. The approval of the sentences is both an attack on press freedom and a blow to the climate of democratisation currently on the agenda in Turkey. This decision, which runs counter to the spirit of the process, must be explained by the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government. Our colleagues whose sentences have been upheld continue to write despite all repression. And this has become the biggest problem for the mentality that issued these sentences. We do not accept these unlawful sentences and we will continue our struggle by taking the legal fight of our colleagues to the next court. We will continue writing the truth despite the sentences.”