The International Press Institute (IPI) today, on the eve of the latest hearing in the “OdaTV” case accusing Turkish journalists of supporting a coup plot, called for the release of all journalists imprisoned in Turkey because of their work.

IPI Executive Director Alison Bethel McKenzie said: “The trial in the OdaTV case – where the defendants have been accused of supporting terrorism based on critical reports questioning government conduct – has now dragged on for almost a full year. Three of the defendants – who have been convicted of no crime – have now been behind bars for 21 months and most of the others spent a full year in prison before their release pending trial. IPI and our affiliate, the South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), urge Turkish authorities to drop the charges in this case, to end the persecution of journalists who have done nothing but their job and to free all journalists who remain in prison because of their work.”

The three defendants in the OdaTV case to whom Bethel McKenzie referred are Soner Yalcin, the head of the news website after which the case is named, Turkish author and academic Yalcin Kucuk and former police chief turned-whistle-blowing author Hanefi Avci.

The three are on trial along with 10 others – including IPI World Press Freedom Hero Nedim Sener and investigative journalist Ahmet Sik – for their alleged roles in what authorities say was the “media wing” of the as-yet-unproven “Ergenekon” plot. The plot is said to have involved a plan by elements of the military and security services to use terrorism to sow chaos and build support for a coup against Turkey’s current Justice and Development Party (AKP)-led government.

All but two of the defendants were imprisoned in early 2011 following raids on their homes and offices, but the court throughout 2012 has gradually ordered the release of eight defendants in the case in small groups pending trial.

The defendants are generally accused of using their roles in the media or as authors to advance the Ergenekon plot by undermining the investigation against it. However, they claim that they were targeted for critical coverage of the government and of the alleged influence on the judiciary and security services by the Gulen movement, a shadowy sect named for Turkish author, educator and Muslim scholar Fethullah Gulen, who fled Turkey in 1999 for Pennsylvania.

An indictment presented in August 2011 relied on snippets of emails and wiretapped telephone conversations, as well as to articles posted – or not posted – to OdaTV’s website. However, the key evidence in the case consists of electronic documents found on computers owned by the website and by some of the defendants during the raids. Prosecutors say the documents show a media “operational plan” in support of the Ergenekon plot, but the defendants have submitted analyses by forensic experts concluding that the documents were fabricated and planted by malicious software.

The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) in August concluded that none of the documents were created or opened on the defendants’ computers and that they could have been sent by viruses that deleted themselves leaving no trace. However, when asked by the court to definitively answer whether the documents were sent by viruses or malicious software, the agency backtracked and earlier this week it gave the court a report concluding that the documents in question existed on the computers before they were infected by malicious software.

Recent years have been a worrying time for press freedom in Turkey. The country continues to detain approximately 76 journalists, apparently more than any other country in the world. Most of those detained are held on what appear to be politically-motivated charges of support for terrorism stemming from alleged connections to banned left-wing groups, to right-wing ultranationalists and to Kurdish separatists. Those allegedly linked to Kurdish groups make up the vast bulk of detained journalists.

While the number of detained journalists has dropped from more than 100 earlier this year, observers have described ongoing pressure on independent, critical journalists, which has led to an ever-growing climate of fear and self-censorship. The pressure includes not only the threat of criminal prosecution and imprisonment by the government, but also economic pressure on news outlets and their owners, leaving journalists who cover sensitive issues at risk of losing their employment.