OdaTV suspects ask for release from jail

ISTANBUL - Anatolia News Agency

Barış Terkoğlu (C), Oda TV online news portal newsroom editor was arrested in February 2011, together with journalists Nedim Şener and Ahmet Şık.

The lawyers representing arrested journalists Soner Yalçın, Barış Pehlivan and Barış Terkoğlu, who were charged within the OdaTV case, demanded the release of their clients based on evidence found in a report issued by the Scientific and Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK).

“TÜBİTAK’s report, which was sent to the court, revealed that 35 digital documents which constituted as grounds for accusations had manipulative aspects. After its research, TÜBİTAK detected harmful software with the function of uploading files in each of the three computers, and came to the conclusion that the documents might be uploaded through this software,” the petition read.

TÜBİTAK’s report about the OdaTV case, which was seven months in the making, arrived at the court on Aug. 27. As part of the case, TÜBİTAK examined three different computers and detected viruses on them, but they did not detect anything about whether the documents were transferred via viruses or not.
The OdaTV case centers on an online news portal known for its fierce criticism of government.