Court frees two Turkish journalists

A Turkish court yesterday freed two opposition journalists charged with plotting a coup over a magazine cover criticising President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s last November election victory.

Nokta magazine’s editor-in-chief Cevheri Guven and managing editor Murat Capan, who face jail terms of up to 20 years each on charges of provoking armed rebellion against the Turkish Republic, were released pending trial, AFP quoting the private Dogan news agency.

The duo were arrested after Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) swept to an unexpected victory in legislative elections on November 1, this year.

Police then raided the Istanbul offices of Nokta and detained the two editors over the cover that read: “The start of civil war in Turkey.”

An Istanbul court later ordered that the magazine’s latest edition be withdrawn from the shelves, accusing it of inciting the public to commit a crime. Nokta had been raided in September by the authorities for another cover satirising Erdogan.