MEDIA MONITORING DATABASE
Former director for BirGün daily Burak Ekici – trial for “membership of FETÖ”
RELATED PERSON OR INSTITUTION
Burak Ekici
CITY
İstanbul
YEAR OF INTERFERENCE
2017
LAST UPDATED
15/05/2019
TYPE OF STATEMENT
Political
MEDIUM
Print Media
Newspaper
THE TITLE OF WHOSE RIGHT IS INTERFERED
Editor / Editor-In-Chief
RIGHTS GUARANTEED UNDER THE RIGHT OF FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Right to Impart Information and Ideas
TYPE OF INTERFERENCE
Judicial Interference
Criminal Courts
Sentence to imprisonment
THE LEGAL GROUNDS FOR INTERFERENCE
Turkish Penal Code
Art. 314/2

Upon the investigation launched by the İstanbul Chief Prosecutor’s Office a lawsuit was filed against 10 journalists for “membership in a terrorist organisation [FETÖ]” allegedly using ByLock app. Ömer Faruk Aydemir (former Chief of Information of İhlas News Agency News), Sait Gürkan Tuzlu (correspondent of now-closed Cihan News Agency), Mesut Ertaç (the former reporter for now closed Zaman ve Cihan news agency), Muhsin Pilgir (correspondents of now-closed Zaman newspaper and Cihan News Agency), Mehmet Ali Ay, Yusuf Duran, Ahmet Feyzullah Özyurt, Murat Özay (Cihan News Agency), Hüdaverdi Yıldırım (Can Erzincan TV) Yasir Kaya (the former news director for Fenerbahçe TV), Cüneyt Seza Özkan (the editor for Samanyolu TV Channel) have been standing trial.  They have been all arrestedon August 16, 2017

The İstanbul 32th High Criminal Court sentenced the former director for BirGün daily, Burak Ekici to 6 years 3 months of imprisonment for “membership in a terrorist organisation [FETÖ]” on February 27, 2018 due to allegedly using ByLock app 217 times. Considering his time in prison, the court released him. The rest, nine others are on trial separately.