The International Press Institute (IPI) calls for the immediate acquittal of Erol Önderoğlu, an IPI member and the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) Turkey representative, as well as his two co-defendants, Şebnem Korur Fincancı and Ahmet Nesin, ahead of their retrial in Turkey on February 3, 2021 on terrorism-related charges.
Önderoğlu, a journalist and respected press freedom campaigner, and his two co-defendants are charged as part of their participation in a solidarity campaign for the pro-Kurdish newspaper Özgür Gündem shut down in 2016 by an emergency decree. All three were acquitted by a lower court in July 2019. However, a regional court of appeals overturned that decision on October 20, 2020.