A Turkish court has ordered the release of journalist Mehmet Altan, four months after he was sentenced to life imprisonment for allegedly aiding a failed military coup in 2016.
Mr. Mehmet Altan and his brother, Ahmet, were arrested in September 2016 after the Turkish government launched a manhunt for the brains behind a failed coup attempt against President Tayyip Erdogan. The two brothers were jailed for life in February along with four other journalists on charges of aiding coup plotters.
Mehmet Altan was sentenced despite the fact that the highest constitutional court in Turkey ruled for his release, on the grounds that his detention amounted to the violation of his rights. A penal court rejected the request and decided to keep him in jail as his trial continued.
Speaking in an interview with Reuters after the court ruling, Mr. Altan’s lawyer said: “It was an absurd situation and totally unlawful for him not to be released after the Constitutional Court decision,” a lawyer for Altan, who declined to be named. Another court, the appeals court, did the right thing and released him now. That’s what should have happened in the first place.”
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