Six former employees of one of Turkey’s oldest newspapers were sent back to prison on Thursday after a court upheld their convictions on terrorism-related charges in a high-profile case international rights defenders have slammed as a blatant attack on press freedom.
The group, which includes journalists, lawyers, a board member and an accountant who worked for Cumhuriyet newspaper, were all sentenced to prison terms of fewer than five years exactly one year ago, and had been free pending their appeal. A district appeals court last week rejected their petition and ordered the men to return to prison.