April 12, 2017•Update: April 12, 2017
By Murat Kaya
ISTANBUL
A criminal high court in Istanbul acquitted 13 suspects on Wednesday in a case about their alleged involvement in a plot to topple the government through the Turkish news website, “odatv.com”.
The Oda TV case was initiated as part of the Ergenekon probe when police conducted a search of the website’s offices in February 2011.
Digital documents seized in the raids, which were allegedly linked to the Ergenekon plot -- a supposed conspiracy to overthrow Turkish government -- became the basis of the case.
Suspects, including Oda TV staff and other journalists Yalcin Kucuk, Ahmet Sik, Nedim Sener, and Soner Yalcin and former police chief Hanefi Avci faced charges of being either founders, members or supporters of the "armed terrorist organization Ergenekon”.
The case attracted strong criticism from those who argued it was against "freedom of the press" while the defendants also denied the charges against them.
However, the government said they were not being tried for their writings, but for the alleged crimes.
In the years following the initial arrests, the suspects were either jailed or released pending trial.
Reporting by Murat Kaya; Writing by Ayse Humeyra Atilgan
