A prosecutor on Thursday demanded the conviction of currently jailed journalist Mehmet Baransu and a sentence of up to 31 years’ imprisonment, in a criminal case regarding a news story that revealed a National Security Council (MGK) document.
Baransu, who used to write for critical liberal daily Taraf, had revealed the alleged plan of the government to “eliminate the Gülen movement” based on a secret document he published on Nov. 28, 2013.
Although the prosecutor accused Baransu of “acquiring and publishing documents on national security,” some of Baransu’s lawyers withdrew from the case in a climate of increasing pressure against critics.
Baransu, an outspoken government critic, was put behind bars on March 2, 2015, on charges of releasing classified documents. Nearly 30 police officers raided and searched his home in İstanbul’s Eyüp district for 12 hours before detaining him for questioning in relation to documents he submitted to prosecutors in 2010, prompting a major coup trial known as “Sledgehammer” that implicated top military officers.
