The Editors-in-Chief on Watch campaign of Özgür Gündem daily had begun on May 3, 2016 and ended on August 7, 2016. Daily was closed through the Statutory Decree No. 675 issued under the State of Emergency. Investigations have been launched against 50 of the 56 Editors-in-Chief on Watch who have participated in the solidarity campaign and 38 of them faced prosecution.
Standing trial for having participated in the “Editors-in-Chief on Watch” campaign in solidarity with the closed Özgür Gündem newspaper, Mehmet Şirin Taşdemir has been acquitted of the charge of “propagandising for a terrorist organisation” by 14th High Criminal Court of İstanbul in the last hearing of trial on April 3, 2019.
