July 24 is the anniversary of the supposed lifting of press censorship in Turkey, an occasion that is marked by Turkish journalists as a day of celebration. It was therefore sadly ironic that the long awaited trial of 17 journalists and managers of Cumhuriyet, Turkey’s most respected opposition daily newspaper, started today. They face an outlandish range of thinly supported terror charges and each faces up to 43 years if convicted.

The “Cumhuriyet 17” include veteran columnist Kadri Gursel, who also writes for Al-Monitor; award-winning investigative reporter Ahmet Sik and cartoonist Musa Kart. Their plight is being watched closely by press watchdogs, lawmakers and fellow journalists from Turkey and beyond. The globally acclaimed French cartoonist Plantu was among those to lend support, sharing a biting image depicting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s suppression of the press via Twitter.

Many were at hand to witness the day’s proceedings, injecting an air of festivity and defiance with multicolored plastic balloons that they popped outside the Cagalayan courtroom in Istanbul.

“There were hundreds of people trying to get in to watch the case this morning and it turned into a shouting and pushing match that delayed the start,” said Al-Monitor contributor Ayla Jean Yackley. There were dramatic scenes as defendants’ loved ones strained to touch them. Howls of protest erupted when gendarmerie guards intervened to prevent Gursel’s 10-year-old only child, Erdem, from hugging him.