Court Rules to Release Journalists, Citing Judicial Reform Package

The Ankara 11th High Criminal Court ruled to release Yürüyüş magazine journalists Cihan Gün, Naciye Yavuz, Kaan Ünsal, Musa Kurt and Halit Güdenoğlu during the third hearing of the case on Friday, after the five journalists spent one and a half years behind bars on terrorism related charges.

The court cited the classification of the offense in question, the current state of the evidence and the amendments that came into force following the ratification of the Third Judicial Reform Package by Parliament and President Abdullah Gül on July 2 in its verdict.

The court had earlier released Gülsüm Yıldız, Nejla Can and Mehmet Ali Uğurlu, all of whom were under arrest pending trial, during the first hearing of the case on Jan. 13. Abdullah Özgün, Hatice Rüken Kılıç and Remzi Uçucu continued serving time behind bars upon the court's orders, however.

Officials first detained the journalists on Jan. 24, 2010 during a raid into the offices of Yürüyüş magazine when law enforcement officials broke the office doors and seized nearly 2,000 books.

The indictment prepared by prosecutor Kubilay Taştan and accepted by Chief Justice Dündar Örsdemir implicated the suspects on the charge of "being a member of a terrorist organization" as stipulated in the fifth article of the Anti-Terror Law (TMK.)

The first hearing of the case took place an entire 13 months after the journalists first landed in the Sincan F-type Prison. Their appeal to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in relation to the prolonged extent of their imprisonment and an order of secrecy over their file that remained in place for 10 months is still awaiting a conclusion.

Prosecutor Mehmet Özgür demanded the suspects' continued arrest during Friday's hearing, while defendant lawyer Selçuk Kozağaçlı requested their release, arguing that the courts were passing politically motivated verdicts to enforce the decisions of the government.

Chief Justice Örsdemir ruled for their release, however, and requested the suspects' phone records during the investigation and the communication fact-finding report.(AS)