No Release for Journalists Şahin, Gayıp from ETHA

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First trial of four people including Etkin News Agency (ETHA) editor Semiha Şahin and correspondent Pınar Gayıp has been held in İstanbul 23rd Heavy Penal Court in Çağlayan.

The journalists demanded their acquittal. The prosecutor claimed that missing elements of the file weren’t completed and demanded continuation of all defendants’ arrest.

The court ruled for continuation of arrest of all four defendants. The next hearing is on December 5, 2018.

Gayıp and Şahin were detained from their homes at around 2 a.m. on April 13. On April 19, Şahin and Gayıp were arrested by the prosecutor’s office they were referred to along with SGDF member Ferhat Pehlivan and Gülsen İmre, who was detained in Gazi Neighborhood.

Şahin is charged with “being a member of an illegal organization and propagandizing for it”; Gayıp with “being a member of an illegal organization”; Pehlivan and İmre with “propagandizing for an illegal organization”.

According to bia Media Monitoring Report April-May-June 2018 report, of 127 imprisoned journalists, 33 are defendants; 40 are suspects; 30 are inmates and 24 are convicted. (BK/TK)