A Turkish court has ruled for the acquittal of staff from the pro-opposition Sözcü newspaper who were retried for allegedly aiding the faith-based Gülen movement, labeled as a terrorist organization by the Turkish government, Sözcü reported on Wednesday.
The İstanbul 37th High Criminal Court’s ruling on Wednesday concerns all nine defendants in the retrial, including Sözcü owner Burak Akbay, columnists Emin Çölaşan and Necati Doğru and Editor-in-Chief Metin Yılmaz.
The Gülen movement, which has suffered a relentless crackdown by the Turkish government over the past decade, has faced various accusations, including masterminding corruption investigations in 2013 and a coup attempt in July 2016.
The Turkish government designated Turkish-Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen and his movement as terrorists in May 2016. The movement, inspired by the views of Gülen, who died in Pennsylvania in October, strongly denies the accusations.
Since the coup attempt, at least 705,172 people have been investigated on terrorism or coup-related accusations due to alleged links to the movement, even including individuals like the Sözcü journalists, who are staunch critics of the Gülen movement.
The court acquitted them of the charge of “knowingly and willingly aiding” a terrorist organization without being a member of it.
The Sözcü journalists were accused of publishing reports that expressed concern about the injustice that Gülen movement followers have been subjected to.
Çölaşan and Doğru wrote several columns that included letters from Turkish prisoners who were jailed for alleged membership in the Gülen movement.
Eight of the defendants were given sentences in their 2019 trial ranging from two to three years on terrorism-related charges, while one was acquitted due to a lack of evidence.
A regional appeals court had upheld the sentences, while the Supreme Court of Appeals overturned them and ordered a retrial, which resulted in the acquittal of all the defendants.
Many accuse the Turkish government of using Gülen-linked charges as a pretext to punish and silence its critics.
The trial had been closely watched by press freedom groups that have raised concerns about the increasing pressure on independent and opposition media in Turkey.
Turkey was ranked 158th out of 180 countries in the 2024 World Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders.