Istanbul court abolishes detention warrant against daily Sözcü owner Akbay

ISTANBUL

A court in Istanbul on Jan. 15 ruled to abolish the detention warrant issued in October 2017 against Burak Akbay, the owner of the Sözcü newspaper.

The court also ordered to make an application for a return of the red notice filed against Akbay.

Akbay’s lawyer’s on Jan. 13 requested for the “abolition of the detention warrant” because his defense could not be taken by the court in the Sözcü newspaper trial.

Akbay’s handwritten petitions sent to the court from abroad were taken into consideration in the decision.

The same court on Dec. 27 gave seven journalists from Sözcü newspaper prison sentences for “aiding FETÖ,” the group that orchestrated the July 15, 2016 defeated coup attempt.

The veteran columnists Emin Çölaşan and Necati Doğru were sentenced to three years and six months in prison, while the court ordered that Akbay be tried separately because he was abroad.