Atilla Taş Arrested Again

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Singer and journalist Atilla Taş, who was taken into custody for the execution of his prison sentence today (November 9), has been arrested and sent to the Metris Prison in İstanbul.

Speaking to bianet, Prof. Dr. Yaman Akdeniz, one of the attorneys of Taş, has stated that Taş was taken into custody at his house by police officers today and taken to the İstanbul Courthouse in Çağlayan.

Akdeniz has stated that Taş, who was detained for the execution of his prison sentence which was previously upheld by the court of appeal, has been arrested and sent to the Metris Prison.

The prison sentence of 3 years, 1 month and 15 days given to Atilla Taş on charge of "knowingly and willingly aiding an armed terrorist organization as a non-member" as per the Article no. 220/7 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) was upheld by the court of appeal on October 24.

Yaman Akdeniz has also indicated that though the verdict of the court has foreseen that Atilla Taş shall stay in prison for 2 years, 4 months and 5 days, which means he will be released in January 2020, an application of supervised release can still be made for Taş in January 2019.

Akdeniz has added that they will also object to the verdict of arrest.

Taş and Aksoy arrested for 1 year and 50 days

Atilla Taş and Murat Aksoy were arrested on September 3, 2016.

As part of the lawsuit filed against 29 people, 26 of whom had been behind bars, a ruling of release was given for 21 defendants including Taş and Aksoy on March 31, 2017. However, none of the arrested defendants were released after new arrest warrants were issued for them on the same day.

Having been arrested for 1 year, 1 months and 21 days, Atilla Taş and Murat Aksoy were released on October 24, 2017.

What happened?

On August 30, 2016, İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office issued a detention warrant for 35 people, including several academics and journalists, as part of the investigation against "FETÖ" following the coup attempt on July 15. 27 of the 35 detainees were later arrested.

The state-run Anadolu Agency reported the detention order for journalists and writers as "Operation against the media organization of FETÖ".

A lawsuit was filed against the journalists on charges of "being members of an armed terrorist organization" and "attempting to stage a coup" at the İstanbul 25th Heavy Penal Court.

The lawsuit was concluded on October 24, 2017 and as per the ruling of the court, 23 defendants were given prison sentences of 6 years and 3 months to 7 years and 6 months on charge of "being members of an armed terrorist organization." While Atilla Taş was sentenced to 3 years, 1 months and 15 days in prison for "aiding an armed terrorist organization", Murat Aksoy was sentenced to 2 years and 1 month in prison.

The ones sentenced to 7 years and 6 months in prison: Ahmet Memiş, Ali Akkuş, Muhammet Sait Kuloğlu, Mutlu Çölgeçen, Seyid Kılıç, Ünal Tanık, Erkan Acar, Oğuz Usluer, Davut Aydın, Ufuk Şanlı, Yetkin Yıldız, Cuma Ulus.

The ones sentenced to 6 years and 3 months in prison: Cihan Acar, Bünyamin Köseli, İbrahim Balta, Bayram Kaya, Cemal Azmi Kalyoncu, Habip Güler, Hanım Büşra Erdal, Yakup Çetin, Hüseyin Aydın, Abdullah Kılıç ve Gökçe Fırat Çulhaoğlu. (EKN/SD)