Life sentences for Turkish journalists chill others awaiting verdicts
A court jailed three prominent journalists last week to life imprisonment, stoking fears that others in prison for their work may also see harsh penalties.
Life sentences for six defendants, including three prominent journalists, for their alleged roles in a coup plot set off shock waves in Turkey, raising the alarm that more journalists charged in cases that human rights campaigners say are politically motivated may also face severe penalties.
The verdict last week against Ahmet Altan, 67, a best-selling novelist and newspaper editor, his brother Mehmet Altan, 65, an economics professor and editor, Nazli Ilicak, 74, a political commentator and former lawmaker, and three employees at a banned newspaper was the first landmark decision in a slew of court cases against journalists and intellectuals accused of involvement in a 2016 failed coup in Turkey or in other press freedom cases.
