Istanbul Prosecutor's Office Prepares indictment against 18 journalists

YEREVAN, AUGUST 5, ARMENPRESS. Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office has prepared an indictment against 18 journalists who are accused of "making propaganda for a terrorist organization," asking the court to jail them for up to 7.5 years. Armenpress reports the latter citing “Anadolu” agency.

The 9 journalists have been charged after the investigation into the publication of photos, showing Prosecutor Mehmet Selim Kiraz's captivity at the hands of terrorists.

Kiraz was killed on March 31 following an eight-hour standoff that began after Şafak Yayla and Bahtiyar Doğruyol, two members of the outlawed Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C), took him hostage in Istanbul's Çağlayan Courthouse.

In April 2015, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had accused media organizations over publications on the hostage crisis, accusing them of treason for being the “partners of the terrorists” who were involved in the killing of the late prosecutor.