The Istanbul Chief Prosecutor’s Office opened a lawsuit against Selman Keleş, Özgür Paksoy, Kenan Kırkaya, Aziz Oruç (reporters for the shuttered pro-Kurdish Dicle News Agency, or DİHA), Ersin Çaksu (The editor-in-chief for Özgürlükçü Demokrasi newspaper), and İhsak Yasul (The chief-editor for Özgürlükçü Demokrasi newspaper) for allegedly“Degrading Turkish Nation, State of Turkish Republic, the Organs and Institutions of the State” in April 2017. Ministry of Justice has accepted to launch an investigation over their reports and articles about Turkish military actions in predominantly ethnic-Kurdish cities in southeastern Turkey published in Özgürlükçü Demokrasi between 21 October and 1 November, 2016.

On the last hearing of their trial held on November 28, 2019, the Istanbul 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance sentenced İshak Yasul, Kenan Kırkaya, Özgür Paksoy and Selman Keleş to 5 months of imprisonment under article 301.

While the pronouncement of the judgement was deferred for journalists İshak Yasul, Kenan Kırkaya and Özgür Paksoy, the prison sentence of Selman Keleş was suspended.

The court decided that the files of Aziz Oruç and Ersin Çaksu to be separated (28 November)