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After the Court of Cassation overturned the verdicts of conviction in Cumhuriyet case, the retrial of former Cumhuriyet employees started at the İstanbul 27th Heavy Penal Court yesterday (November 21).
Announcing its verdict at 5 p.m., the court has ruled that Kadri Gürsel shall be acquitted while it has upheld the conviction of all other defendants.
With the İstanbul 27th Heavy Penal Court defying the Court of Cassation verdict of reversal, the case will now be heard by the General Assembly for Criminal Matters of Court of Cassation.
Prosecutor demanded insistence on conviction
In the hearing yesterday, first, the verdict of the Court of Cassation was read out. Pronouncing his opinion as to the accusations, the prosecutor reiterated the charges filed by the first indictment and judicial process, demanding that the local court defy the verdict of reversal given by the Court of Cassation. Afterwards, the defendants made their statements.
* As courtroom sketch artist Necmi Yalçın was banned from drawing in the courthall, he illustrated his observations outside the hall.
'It cannot be explained with legal motives'
Taking the floor first, Kadri Gürsel requested that the 27th Heavy Penal Court abide by the verdict of the Court of Cassation. The same request was also repeated by his lawyers Köksal Bayraktar and İlkan Koyuncu.
Making his statement, Ahmet Şık said, "Cumhuriyet conspiracy is not a case that can be explained with legal motives. It is a conspiracy organized by a political power that has turned into a mafia, a judiciary that has assumed the role and duty to be a hitman for it and its collaborator media."
* Illustration: Necmi Yalçın
Expressing their opinions about the verdict of the Court of Cassation, the defendants requested the court to abide by the ruling, objecting to the opinion as to the accusations of the prosecutor.
Lawyer Bülent Utku, one of the defendants of the case, also stated, "The operation against Cumhuriyet newspaper is a politically motivated operation of revenge from the very beginning. It has not changed at any stage of the judicial process. That is all I am going to say about the opinion as to the accusations of the prosecutor."
Announcing its verdict, the İstanbul 27th Heavy Penal Court abided by the prosecutor's opinion as to the accusations and upheld its verdict of conviction for all defendants, except for Kadri Gürsel. The court has ruled that Gürsel shall be acquitted. The case will now be heard by the General Assembly for Criminal Matters of Court of Cassation.
What happened?
In the Cumhuriyet case, the İstanbul Regional Court of Justice, the 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 were sent to the Supreme Court of Appeals, it was ruled that Güray Öz, Musa Kart, Hakan Kara, Önder Çelik, Kadri Gürsel, Bülent Utku, Mustafa Kemal Güngör and Emre İper, who were sentenced to less than five years, should be imprisoned. The 11 months served by Kadri Gürsel were reduced from his prison sentence.
CLICK - Court of Appeals Upholds Verdict on Cumhuriyet Case, Journalists Say 'Goodbye'
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 started on April 26.
Sentenced to more than five years in prison, Murat Sabuncu, Akın Atalay, Aydın Engin, Ahmet Şık, Hikmet Çetinkaya and Orhan Erinç appealed to the Court of Cassation against the verdict.
Examining the case file as a whole, the 16th Penal Chamber of the Court of Cassation abided by the letter of notification of the Court of Cassation's Chief Public Prosecutor's Office and overturned the verdict of conviction on charge of "aiding a terrorist organization". The Court also ruled for the suspension of execution of their sentences. The verdict demanded that Ahmet Şık be penalized not for aiding the organization, but for propagandizing.
Musa Kart, Güray Öz, M. Kemal Güngör, Hakan Kara and Önder Çelik were released from prison on September 12 upon the verdict of the 16th Penal Chamber of the Court of Cassation.
After the Judicial Reform Package entered into effect, Emre İper was released from prison on October 26. (AS/SD)
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