Turkish journalist Sezgin Kartal acquitted of terrorism charges after 160-day detention

 JournalismPakistan.com |  Published last year

ISTANBUL—Journalist Sezgin Kartal has been acquitted of charges of "terrorist organization membership" due to insufficient evidence, and his travel ban has been lifted. Kartal had been detained for 160 days under these allegations.

Arrested on January 10, International Working Journalists Day, Kartal was detained three days later and faced his sixth hearing at the Istanbul 22nd High Criminal Court. While Kartal did not attend the hearing, his lawyers, Oya Meric Eyuboglu and Berfin Karasah, were present. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) Turkey representative Ozgur Ogret also monitored the proceedings.

Sezgin Kartal, a reporter for Karsı Mahalle, had been arrested on charges of "terrorist organization membership." He was released at the second hearing on June 22.

The Committee to Protect Journalists has welcomed the Istanbul court's acquittal. "We are pleased with the acquittal of journalist Sezgin Kartal, but let us not forget that the case against him was built on next to no evidence and should not have existed in the first place, let alone cost the journalist five months of his life in jail," said Ozgur Ogret, CPJ's Turkey representative. "Authorities should not appeal the acquittal and ensure that members of the media are not prosecuted or so easily imprisoned without concrete evidence of wrongdoing."

Photo: Pir News Agency