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            Turkish Journalists Face Life Imprisonment for Espionage

   by VOA News

   The trial of two Turkish journalists has resumed, with the two
   defendants facing charges of espionage and aiding a terrorist
   organization for their reporting that alleged the government was
   smuggling arms to Syria.

   The closed-door trial involves Cumhuriyet newspaper editor-in-chief Can
   Dundar and Ankara bureau chief Erdem Gul. They could get sentences of
   life imprisonment if found guilty.

   Their case, which has generated international interest as a test of
   press freedom, went to trial last Friday, but was adjourned until this
   week after opposition lawyers and politicians ignored the judge's
   ruling to close the courtroom to the public.
   Protesters have gathered at the courthouse in Istanbul calling, "Free
   press, free society."

   ''


   Charges
   The men are accused of publishing images that date back to January 2014
   of Syria-bound trucks, which the newspaper said proved Turkey was
   smuggling arms into that country.

   Since then, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has acknowledged that the
   trucks, which were stopped by Turkish gendarmerie and police officers
   en route to the Syrian border, belonged to the intelligence agency and
   said they were carrying aid to Turkmens in Syria, fighting both
   President Bashar al-Assad and Islamic State.

   ''Turkey has also alleged the reporters aided an Islamic movement
   headed by U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, an opponent of Erdogan.

   Closed-doors trial
   The judge on Friday ordered the trial to be held behind closed doors,
   after a request by the prosecutor, citing security concerns around the
   case that has drawn international condemnation. The court also accepted
   Erdogan as a complainant.

   Speaking to reporters as he entered the courthouse Friday, Dundar said
   he hoped the court would consider an earlier ruling by the
   Constitutional Court and drop the charges. Dundar also said the two did
   nothing wrong in reporting the facts.

   Dundar said he and co-defendant Gul were stuck between "two different
   palaces," referring to the Constitutional Court's building and "the
   illegal" presidential residence.

   White House meeting
   U.S. President Barack Obama met Thursday with President Erdogan in
   Washington on the sidelines of Obama's Nuclear Security Summit. Obama
   assured the Turkish leader of the U.S. commitment to Turkish security.

   ''

   Separately Thursday, chaos erupted between Turkish security and
   protesters outside a Washington think tank, the Brookings Institute,
   where Erdogan was giving a speech.

   Media reports said a journalist was removed from the event site by
   Turkish security personnel and another was kicked by a guard.

   Earlier this year, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden visited Turkey where
   he criticized the country's leaders for cracking down on freedom of
   expression. He said the Turkish government was not setting the right
   "example" with its imprisonment of journalists and investigation of
   academics who have criticized the government's military campaign
   against Turkey's Kurdish-dominated southeastern sector.


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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/turkey-journalists-face-life-imprison
   ment-for-espionage/3264337.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/turkey-journalists-face-life-imprisonment-for-espionage/3264337.html