A total of 16 people, including two editors-in-chief, who were detained in a Dec. 14 operation on media groups linked to the U.S.-based Islamic Scholar Fethullah G�len movement have been sent to court for arrest after their testimonies were taken by police.
Twelve suspects, including the editor-in-chief of daily Zaman, Ekrem Dumanli, and the head of the Samanyolu Media Group, Hidayet Karaca, were sent to court with demands for their arrest, while probation was sought for the other four.
The 12 suspects were sent to court on charges of being members of a terrorist organization, engaging in slander and deprivation of liberty, reports stated.
Meanwhile, former Siirt Police Department head Mutlu Ekizoglu and another officer were released by prosecutors. Twelve other suspects detained during the operation were released earlier.
A melee erupted between security officers and Dumanli’s lawyers when the judge permitted only one attorney to enter the courtroom during the editor-in-chief’s questioning.
Dumanli’s testimony at the police station lasted seven hours, during which Public Prosecutor Fuzuli Aydogdu asked him questions about Fethullah G�len and about an Islamic group called “Tahsiyeciler.”
Dumanli reportedly said he was a follower G�len’s books and ideas, but had never received orders from the cleric to publish a piece on a specific subject in the newspaper.
G�len has no title as a manager at daily Zaman, but only has a column in which his pieces are published on Fridays, Dumanli said, rejecting any claims that the scholar was intervening in the newspaper’s publishing policy.
Dumanli pleaded not guilty, saying he was not a member of any organization.
Dumanli told reporters there was “no turning back from democracy and freedoms” as he left the hospital for routine health checks. Meanwhile, Karaca refused to make any statements to the judge. His lawyer, Fikret Duran, told reporters that “Karaca will be arrested.”�
“A fiction has been made, a scenario has been written and a plot has been organized. First, the media makes news about it based on intelligence sources and then a team starts this operation,” said Duran, claiming that the Dec. 14 operation was part of a plot against the detained suspects.
Many people gathered in front of the Istanbul courthouse in �aglayan in support of the suspects. Some read the Quran as others held Turkish flags and placards containing slogans about the press freedom.