‘The One Who Threw a Punch is Free, Cartoonist is Behind Bars’

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Six journalists and lawyers, who have been sentenced to less than five years in prison in the Cumhuriyet newspaper case and whose prison sentences have been upheld by the court of appeal, have been imprisoned again for the execution of their sentences.

CLICK - Cumhuriyet Newspaper Case: 'More Power to Us Inside Jail, More Power to You Outside!'

Musa Kart, Emre İper, Önder Çelik, Mustafa Kemal Güngör, Hakan Kara and Güray Öz are now in Kocaeli Prison in Kandıra.

Lawyers and journalists went to the İzmit Courthouse with their families and attorneys yesterday (April 25). Afterwards, they entered Kocaeli Prison in İzmit with their pre-packed suitcases.

'This case will be heard in people's conscience'

Cartoonist Musa Kart bid farewell on social media in following words:

"From the prison door...

"I believe that this case will continue to be heard in the conscience of people. In the last couple of days, kind-hearted and sensitive people have been summarizing what we are going through: The one who threw a punch is free, cartoonist and journalists are behind bars... In the hope of the days when journalists do not make statements at prison doors... Goodbye."

Önce sağlık kontrolüne oradan da Kandıra Cezaevi’ne götürülecekler#GazetecilikSuçDeğildir pic.twitter.com/exkkG5WnQo

— Canan Coşkun (@canancoskun) 25 Nisan 2019

Why 'former employees'?

Musa Kart, who made the above statement, was working as a cartoonist for the daily Cumhuriyet. While Hakan Kara and Güray Öz were the columnists of the newspaper, Emre İper was an employee of the accounting department, Önder Çelik was a member of the Cumhuriyet Foundation's Executive Board and Mustafa Kemal Güngör a lawyer. However, after the management of the newspaper changed, they left the newspaper.

In a statement for the press on April 22, 2019, former employees of the Cumhuriyet also answered questions regarding the fact that some current executives of the newspaper involved in the Cumhuriyet case as witnesses. Musa Kart said, "The current management of the newspaper also has responsibility in what we are going through."

Former Executive Board Chair of Cumhuriyet, lawyer Akın Atalay, who is also one of the defendants of the case, also stated, "This case was not filed solely by politicians; there was a coalition to take over the management and there was a need for a key. Some people fulfilled the function of a key by cooperating. They have responsibility in what happened to us."

What happened?

Lastly in the Cumhuriyet case, the İstanbul Regional Court of Justice (court of appeal) upheld the verdicts of conviction given on April 25, 2018.

Accordingly, while the case files of the ones sentenced to more than five years in prison have been sent to the Supreme Court of Appeals, it has been ruled that Güray Öz, Musa Kart, Hakan Kara, Önder Çelik, Kadri Gürsel, Bülent Utku, Mustafa Kemal Güngör and Emre İper, who have been sentenced to less than five years, shall be imprisoned.

Considering the time that he previously served in prison, Kadri Gürsel has been excluded from this verdict.

CLICK - Court of Appeals Upholds Verdict on Cumhuriyet Case

After the court of appeal upheld the prison sentences of journalists and lawyers, an objection was raised to the İstanbul 27th Heavy Penal Court; however, the execution of the sentences has started.

An appeal has been made to the Supreme Court of Appeals for Murat Sabuncu, Akın Atalay, Aydın Engin, Ahmet Şık, Hikmet Çetinkaya and Orhan Erinç, who have been sentenced to more than five years in prison. (AS/SD)