Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan addresses members of parliament from his ruling AK Party (AKP) during a meeting at the Turkish parliament in Ankara. PHOTO: REUTERS
The public sector employees were sacked after being accused of downloading an encrypted messaging app known as Bylock, which the authorities say was used by the movement of US-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen who is blamed for the attempted putsch.
But late last year, the authorities said that the app had been downloaded by thousands of people without their knowledge.
Turkey to extend state of emergency for sixth time
In a similar case last year, prosecutors also demanded life sentences for former Zaman newspaper marketing manager Yakup Simsek, police academy instructor Sukru Tugrul Ozsengul and Zaman layout designer Fevzi Yazici.
The Altan brothers and Ilicak are also accused of appearing together on a TV show on a pro-Gulen channel just before the coup bid and issuing a message that the attempted overthrow was in the offing.
The case is separate to the trial 17 current and former writers, cartoonists and executives from the opposition Cumhuriyet (“Republic”) daily on charges supporting terror groups.
Four of the suspects are still behind bars, including investigative reporter Ahmet Sik, and the trial is seen as a critical test of press freedom. The next hearing in that case is December 25.
Turkey ranks 155 on the latest Reporters Without Borders world press freedom index, below Belarus and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
According to the P24 press freedom website, there are 153 journalists behind bars in Turkey, most of whom were detained under the state of emergency imposed after the coup bid.
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