Two Turkish journalists convicted of violating the Secret Service Law announced on Tuesday (February 15th) on Twitter that they were returning to prison after losing an appeal.
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They had been tried in 2020 for reports that a Turkish intelligence officer had been killed in Libya, after Ankara had given its support to the Libyan government recognized by the UN.
In September 2020, the Istanbul court sentenced Aydin Keser, Ferhat Celik and Murat Agirel, journalists with the daily Yenicag, to four years and eight months in prison for violating the law on the Turkish Intelligence Agency (MIT).
OdaTV editor Baris Pehlivan and reporter Hulya Kilinc were sentenced to three years and nine months in detention for the same charges.
Murat Agirel and Baris Pehlivan announced on Twitter on Tuesday that they were returning to prison.
"
For the third time ... We are here, we are going ... Goodbye
" posted Baris Pehlivan with a selfie photo where he appears smiling, in front of the main court in Istanbul.
“
I am going back to prison because I have qualified as martyrs those who died as martyrs for their homeland
,” tweeted Murat Agirel for his part.
“
Those who have been unable to deny what I have written think they can silence me through injustice,
” he adds.
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NGOs regularly denounce violations of press freedom in Turkey, in particular since the attempted putsch in 2016, followed by the arrest of dozens of journalists and the closure of several media deemed hostile.
Turkey is ranked 153rd out of 180 in the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) 2021 press freedom index.