Soner Yalçın, Imprisoned Journalist, Released

The 12th High Criminal Court in Istanbul ordered the release of Soner Yalçın, an imprisoned journalist since February 2011 who was charged with "being an Ergenekon terrorist organization member", "igniting hatred and revenge amid public" and "publishing top secret government files".

The 12th High Criminal Court in Istanbul held the 15th session of OdaTV case this afternoon, attended by jailed defendants Soner Yalçın, Hanefi Avcı and Yalçın Küçük, as well as other defendants Ahmet Şık, Nedim Şener, Barış Terkoğlu, Barış Pehlivan, Sait Çakır, İklim Ayfer Kaleli, Ahmet Mümtaz İdil, Doğan Yurdakul, Müyesser Yıldız and Coşkun Musluk.

On February 14 last year, Istanbul police raided the apartments of OdaTV journalists Soner Yalçın, Barış Pehlivan and Barış Terkoğlu and detained them by the order of prosecutor Zekeriya Öz. Four days later, the three journalists were arrested after the completion of their testimony to the prosecutor.

The prosecutor charged the three journalists with "being an Ergenekon terrorist organization member", "igniting hatred and revenge amid public", and "publishing top secret government files". (EKN/BM)