Sak, a veteran opinion writer and former chief editor for the Islamist weekly Baran, was summoned to serve a term of three years and nine months in prison after the Supreme Court of Appeals upheld in 2012 a conviction that dated back to 1999.
Sak was convicted of being a member of the outlawed İslami Büyük Doğu Akıncılar Cephesi, or İslamic Great East Raiders Front; staging a protest; and possessing organizational documents, among other charges, according to an updated list of imprisoned journalists provided by the Justice Ministry in November 2013 at CPJ’s request.
Sak’s defense lawyer, Güven Yılmaz, told CPJ that authorities cited as evidence Sak’s handwritten notes and the content of Akıncı Yol, the magazine he was editing at the time.
Sak, the ministry said, was being kept at the Bolu F Type High Security Closed Prison in the city of Bolu.