ISTANBUL
Istanbul Penal Court has ruled for the arrest of four people including Hidayet Karaca, chairman of the Samanyolu Media Group.
The court released eight others, including Ekrem Dumanli, editor-in-chief of Zaman newspaper.
Karaca was charged with “managing a terror organization.” Three others – Tufan Erguder, Ertan Ercikti and Mustafa Kilicaslan – were charged with “membership of the organization.”
They were sent to Silivri prison in Istanbul.
The court released Dumanli on the proviso that he does not travel outside Turkey.
After being released, Dumanli criticized the charges brought against him.
"We suffered because of two articles and one news,” Dumanli told thousands of flag-waving supporters waiting outside the Caglayan courthouse – a reference to the evidence brought against him.
“There was surely no concrete evidence,” he stated, adding: “If I have any guilt, I don’t want to see my newborn baby.”
Dumanli became father of a baby girl named Saadet (Happiness), moments before his statement.
“There is no way back from democracy, freedom of speech and justice here in this country,” he added.
In a press conference outside the courthouse, Fikret Duran, an attorney for Hidayet Karaca also rejected the decision, claiming that there had been no independent trial process.
“This incident is a black mark for Turkish justice and press history,” he said.
Before the decision, dozens of people gathered outside the courthouse holding Turkish flags and carrying Zaman newspapers and banners reading: “Free press cannot be silenced.”
A police operation was launched on Sunday against senior media figures and police officers in 13 provinces across Turkey for allegedly being affiliated with what the government describes as the "parallel state," a purported group of bureaucrats embedded in the country's institutions, including the judiciary and the police.
More than 20 suspects were taken into custody in the operation. All the detainees were alleged to be linked with U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen and his so-called Gulen movement.
They were charged with forgery, fabricating evidence and forming an alleged crime syndicate to overtake the sovereignty of the state. Gulen has rejected the accusations.
In December 2013, an anti-graft probe targeted a number of high-profile figures, including the sons of three former government ministers, and leading Turkish businessmen.
The government has denounced the probe as a "dirty plot" constructed by the "parallel state."
Since then, hundreds of police officers have been detained on charges of eavesdropping on Turkey's top officials, disclosing highly sensitive information, forming and belonging to an organization to commit crime, violating privacy, illegally seizing personal information and the forgery of official documents.
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