YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 17, ARMENPRESS. A Turkish court has sentenced six journalists to life in jail for alleged links to the July 2016 coup plotters, ARMENPRESS reports, citing BBC.

The judgement came as another Turkish court decided to release German-Turkish journalist Deniz Yucel, who has been held for a year without charge.

The six were found guilty of links to US-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen, blamed over the failed coup.

The court ruling was condemned by human rights groups, including the UN and OSCE representatives on media freedom.

"These harsh sentences are an unacceptable and unprecedented assault on freedom of expression and on the media in Turkey," said David Kaye, the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of expression, and Harlem Desir, the representative on media freedom for the Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE).

The six sentenced journalists are Nazli Ilicak, Ahmet Altan, Mehmet Altan, Fevzi Yazici, Yakup Simsek and Sukru Tugrul Ozsengul.

The Istanbul court found them guilty of "attempting to abolish the order prescribed by the Turkish constitution or to bring in a new order", Turkish media reported.