Istanbul, February 15, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists urges Turkish authorities not to fight the appeals of journalists Ahmet Altan, Nazlı Ilıcak, and Fevzi Yazıcı and ensure that members of the press are not subject to judicial harassment.
The 26th Istanbul Court of Serious Crimes found the three journalists guilty of “assisting a [terrorist] organization without being a member” on Wednesday over their alleged ties to the exiled preacher Fethullah Gülen. The government accuses Gülen of maintaining a terrorist organization, which it calls FETÖ/PDY, and blames for a failed 2016 military coup.
The court sentenced well-known novelist and journalist Altan to six years and 3.5 months imprisonment; Ilıcak, former commentator for pro-Gülen daily Özgür Düşünce and shuttered broadcaster Can Erzincan TV, to five years and three months imprisonment; and Yazıcı, former layout editor for shuttered daily Zaman, to two years and one month.
The court did not immediately order the journalists’ arrests, leaving Altan and Ilıcak—who are both in their 70s—under judicial control, which means they are under a travel ban and must report to the police regularly. The court removed judicial control measures on Yazıcı.
“Turkish journalists Ahmet Altan, Nazlı Ilıcak, and Fevzi Yazıcı have already spent years of their lives behind bars on trumped-up terrorism charges stemming from their journalistic activities. It’s time to stop this endless circle of dragging the journalists into courtrooms and give them peace,” said Özgür Öğret, CPJ’s Turkey representative. “Turkish authorities should stop fighting the appeals of Altan, Ilıcak, and Yazıcı and work towards improving the country’s press freedom record.”
The court acquitted Yakup Şimşek, Zaman’s former advertising director, of the terrorism charge against him.
The three journalists have been enmeshed in multiple appeals and retrials since they were initially arrested in 2016 and sentenced to life imprisonment in 2018. Ilıcak was released from prison in 2019, Altan in 2021, and Yazıcı in March 2023.
Ilıcak was imprisoned from December 4, 2023, to January 28, 2024, after losing an appeal for the charge of “slander” connected to a 2016 column, which contained allegations about a prosecutor who was overseeing a terrorism investigation.
CPJ’s email to the Istanbul chief prosecutor’s office requesting comment did not receive an immediate reply.