A lawsuit was filed against Ayser Çınar in 2018, charging the journalist with “propagandizing for a terrorist organization” on the grounds that she had shared the news reported during the Turkish Armed Forces’ (TAF) “Operation Olive Branch” into Syria’s Afrin in January 2018.
The first hearing of the lawsuit expected to be held at the Ankara 22nd High Criminal Court was adjourned as part of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) measures.
At the second hearing held on October 8, 2020, the court ruled that Çınar should be acquitted as the elements of the crime had not arisen (October 8).