The prosecutor has appealed against the verdict of acquittal given for Şebnem Korur-Fincancı, Erol Önderoğlu and Ahmet Nesin, who were tried for participating in “Editors-in-Chief on Watch” campaign in solidarity with the closed Özgür Gündem.
The prosecutor has appealed against the verdict of acquittal given in the final hearing of the case where Reporters Without Borders (RSF) Representative to Turkey and BİA Media Monitoring Reporter Erol Önderoğlu, writer Ahmet Nesin and Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TİHV) Chair Prof. Dr. Şebnem Korur-Fincancı were put on trial.
After Önderoğlu, Nesin and Korur-Fincancı participated in the "Editors-in-Chief on Watch" campaign launched in solidarity with Özgür Gündem newspaper, which was closed by the Statutory Decree no. 675, a lawsuit was filed against them for "propagandizing for a terrorist organization."
Announcing its verdict on July 17, 2019, the İstanbul 13th Heavy Penal Court ruled that Korur-Fincancı, Önderoğlu and Nesin shall be acquitted.
As the prosecutor has appealed against this ruling, the case will now be heard by the İstanbul Regional Court of Justice, the court of appeal.
Responding to the appeal of the prosecutor, Erol Önderoğlu has said, "I am not surprised at the appeal lodged against our verdict of acquittal considering the political function of the judiciary today. I will not make a comment as the process is still going on. If defending the existence of a newspaper on a symbolic ground is associated with defending terrorism, we can talk about neither democracy nor legal gains in Turkey."
