A court in the Turkish capital Ankara has ordered the release of the government-critical journalist Müyesser Yildiz after five months of pre-trial detention. You have to report regularly to the police, wrote the human rights organization Amnesty International, which observed the start of the trial in Ankara today, on Twitter.
Yildiz is the chief editor of the opposition online platform OdaTV in Ankara. The journalist Ismail Dükel from the Tele1 station and a non-commissioned officer are also charged. An exit ban for Dükel, who is at large, will remain in place, Amnesty wrote. The NCO remains in custody.
According to the state news agency Anadolu, all three defendants are charged with “disclosing information about state security and the political interests of the state”. The public prosecutor’s office demands a prison sentence of between more than six years and 17 years and six months for all defendants.
