Suspects of Turkey’s controversial OdaTV case acquitted

A controversial case in Turkey against online news portal OdaTV which lasted for six years received a final verdict today (April 12) with the order of a court in İstanbul to acquit all 13 suspects, including the journalists and columnists who had been charged with ‘membership of a secret terrorist organization named as Ergenekon’, which was alleged to have aimed to topple down the government through a coup and trigger hatred and hostility among the people of Turkey.

Controversy over the trials of the suspects of OdaTV case had remained valid ever since the initial launching of the investigations in 2011. Journalists who were tried in OdaTV case had criticized the Ergenekon trials, during which more than 200 suspects – including high-ranked generals – were arrested. Ergenekon case itself, one of the most significant cases in history of the Republic, was at that time thought to have been launched and handled by followers of self-exiled Islamic cleric Fethullah Gülen. Gülen movement (Cemaat) is now alleged by Turkey’s president and government as the mastermind behind the failed coup attempt of last summer.

Ahmet Şık: If I say what's on my mind, it would start another case

Among the acquitted suspects of the OdaTV case is journalist Ahmet Şık, who has been jailed since December 2016 in another case under which he is accused of ‘making propaganda for both the PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party) and FETÖ (Fethullahist Terrorist Organization)’.

Şık, who is the author of a draft book which was supposed to be titled as Imam’s Army and provide insight into the calendestine network of the Fethullah Gülen’s Hizmet movement, was accused of being a member of Ergenekon, though he is now charged with links to FETÖ.

When asked in court today about his last statements, Şık said: “If I say what is on my mind, it would be the subject of another case. I’m referring to the judiciary staff that wrote the new indictment about us (for case against Cumhuriyet) and those who act as the hitman of the government. This courthouse has become the symbol of the grave of justice. And those who dig the grave of justice are these prosecutors and judges themselves. At the entrance of this courthouse, there is a statute of Themis with the scale of justice in its hand. Supposedly, that scale is the symbol of assurance of justice but reality is that it does not measure justice, by any means, for those tried here in this grave. It serves as a scale for the prosecutors and the judges: in one side, there is honor and dignity; and, in the other, there is dishonor and indignity. For these prosecutors and judges, the evil side always overweighs.”

As people in the court room began shouting ‘Ahmet will be released and write again’, Ahmet Şık said: “We are going to create a life where our children’s smiles will be real. This mafia government, this organized terror group will get the end that it deserves. It will face the inevitable end!”

Barış Terkoğlu: I'm content with being suspects of this case rather than its prosecutor

News Director of OdaTV Barış Terkoğlu, who was tried without arrest, also gave his last statements for the case: “Six years ago, being a suspect in this case meant to be the cursed ones of this country and to have one’s books banned. Six years later, today, it means to be detached from corrupt governments and gangs within the state institutions. I prefer being a suspect in this case rather than its prosecutor; I am content! We have written our destiny ourselves. And, the judges will write their own destiny with their orders. May your decision be for the good of the country...

A group of journalists and parliamentarians were also present in front of the Çağlayan courthouse today. In their press release read by journalist Ertuğrul Mavioğlu, the advocates of freedom of speech demanded release of jailed journalists.

While welcoming the decision for the acquittal of suspects of the case, PEN also called on Turkey's officials to release journalists who have been detained for practicing their freedom of expression.

Source: https://www.birgun.net/haber-detay/oda-tv-beraati-sonrasi-ahmet-sik-bu-mafya-iktidari-kacinilmaz-sonu-yasayacak-155062.html