Amnesty International said that a court in Turkey handed six journalists jail sentences on Friday of up to just over 10 years for links to a failed military coup in July 2016.
The Six former columnists and editors of the shuttered Zaman newspaper sentenced to jail terms of between eight-and-a-half and ten-and-a-half years.
"Yet again, journalists have received criminal convictions under anti-terror laws with nothing more than their critical writings presented as evidence. These absurd convictions have sent a further shock through Turkey’s already devastated media landscape. They must be overturned immediately", Amnesty International.
"Whilst all were acquitted of ‘attempting to overthrow the constitutional order’ and five were acquitted of all charges, the conviction of six journalists on terrorism charges without a shred of credible evidence against them shows that the systematic attempt to silence the media in Turkey continues", Amnesty International concluded.
Thirty journalists and executives from the now-defunct Zaman newspaper, widely seen as the flagship media outlet for the network of U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, were put on trial two months after the coup attempt.
Gulen has lived in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1999 and Ankara blames him for instigating the failed coup.
The cleric denies any involvement.
