Journalists Taş, Aksoy, Teacher Davut Released in ‘FETÖ-Media Formation’ Lawsuit
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İstanbul 25th Heavy Criminal Court has decided to release musician Atilla Taş, journalist Murat Aksoy and teacher Davut Aydın who were in detention on remand in the "Fethullahist Terrorist Organization's (FETÖ) - Media Formation" lawsuit. 29 people are being tried in the lawsuit, 23 of whom are in being held in jail pending trial.
Taş and Aksoy have been kept in jail pending trial since October 3, 2016. Aydın, who has reportedly been released due to his health condition, has been in pre-trial detention since July 26, 2016.
The 29 defendants are being charged with "being a member of an illegal organization" and "coup attempt" in the "FETÖ's Media Formation" lawsuit.
Report on Bank Asya accounts
To decide whether the defendants had accounts iat Bank Asya, a bank which is allegedly affiliated with the Gülen community, and whether there has been any suspicious activity on these accounts, a report has been prepared.
The report confirmed that six defendants including Atilla Taş, did not have an account at Bank Asya
The report also found that the four defendants who are in jail pending trial, had accounts in the bank, that showed suspicious activities, while some other defendants also had accounts at Bank Asya, these accounts however showed no unusual activity contrary to the daily life routine.
Reports on Bylock usage
A report regarding the defendants' usage of Bylock, an encrypted communication allegedly used among members of the Gülen community, has been submitted to the court. According to the report, six defandants, namely Ufuk Şanlı, Davut Aydın, Seyit Kılıç, Bülent Ceyhan, Mutlu Çölgeçen and Oğuz Usluer had ByLock records.
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 journalists and writers were arrested on different days, and they had been waiting eight months for the trial to begin.
The state-run Anadolu News Agency had reported on the detention order for the journalists and writers under "Operation against the media organization of FETÖ".
The suspects of the trial are employers, owners and writers of Millet daily, Cihan News Agency, Zaman daily, Meydan daily, Yeni Hayat daily, Bugün daily and the Rota News and Samanyolu News websites.
There are 29 defendants standing trial 26 of whom are being kept in jail pending trial.. Warrant has been issued to take two suspects forcibly to testify.
Said Sefa faces 22,5 and the other 28 defendants face up to 15 years in prison each.
The names of the defendants in alphabetical order are:
Abdullah Kılıç, Ahmet Memiş, Ali Akkuş, Atilla Taş, Bayram Kaya, Bülent Ceyhan, Bünyemin Köseli, Cemal Azmi Kalyoncu, Cihan Acar, Cuma Ulus, Davut Aydın, Emre Soncan, Gökçe Fırat Çulhaoğlu, Habip Güler, Halil İbrahim Balta, Hanım Büşra Erdal, Hüseyin Aydın, Muhammet Sait Kuloğlu, Muhterem Tanık, Murat Aksoy, Mustafa Erkan Acar, Mutlu Çölgeçen, Oğuz Usluer, Said Sefa, Seyid Kılıç, Ufuk Şanlı, Ünal Tanık, Yakup Çetin, Yetkin Yıldız. (HK/DG)