A lawsuit was filed against Cumhuriyet newspaper reporter Zehra Özdilek who has reported her interview with a teacher who has been expelled by the decree-law and released from prison with the headline “free after 1.5 years” for “marking a counterterrorism official as a target” on the grounds that she has wrote the name of a secret witness, whose name was repeatedly in the press. During the investigation, the non-prosecution order was issued. However, 20 days later, the indictment was prepared without any official objection. Based on this, Özdilek faces up from 1 year to 3 years of imprisonment for “marking a counterterrorism official as a target” (29 November).

At the hearing held on February 12 at the 27th High Criminal Court of Istanbul, issuing an interim decision at the end of the hearing, the court decided that the non-prosecution decision was never officially issued. Ruling to send the file to the prosecution for the preparation of the final opinion, the court adjourned the trial until 14 April (12 February).

The hearing scheduled to be held on April 14, was postponed to June 5 by the 27th High Criminal Court of Istanbul due to measures taken in relation to coronavirus pandemic (14 April).

The hearing scheduled to be held on June 5 was postponed until 24 September (5 June).

At the final hearing held on September 24, the prosecutor delivered the opinion as to the merits and demanded her acquittal (24 September).