House Arrest of Journalists Şahin and Gayıp Lifted

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Charged with "membership of a terrorist organization" and "propagandizing for a terrorist organization", Etkin News Agency (ETHA) editor Semiha Şahin and reporter Pınar Gayıp had their hearing at the İstanbul 23rd Heavy Penal Court in İstanbul Courthouse in Çağlayan today (December 11).

Lifting the house arrest of the journalists, the court board has ruled that an international travel ban shall be imposed on the journalists.

Standing trial as part of the same lawsuit, Gülsen İmre and Ferhat Harun Pehlivan's "judicial control measures" have been removed by the court. The next hearing of the case will be held on February 27, 2020.

What happened?

Journalists from Etkin News Agency (ETHA) Pınar Gayıp and Semiha Şahin were detained on April 13, 2018. On April 19, Şahin and Gayıp were arrested by the Prosecutor's Office, where they were referred along with Federation of Socialist Youth Associations (SGDF) member Ferhat Pehlivan and Gülsen İmre.

Şahin was charged with "being a member of an illegal organization and propagandizing for it"; Gayıp was charged with "being a member of an illegal organization"; Ferhat Harun Pehlivan and Gülsen İmre with "propagandizing for an illegal organization".

Indictment

The indictment dated September 2018 referred to their social media messages and the demonstrations that they attended as part of the journalistic activities as criminal evidence. The indictment also called ETHA "a website doing publications in line with the organization's views and ideology".

(TP/SD)