Turkish journalist released in OdaTV case

ISTANBUL – Anatolia News Agency

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Müyesser Yıldız, a journalist who had been held under arrest as a suspect in the OdaTV case for the past 16 months, was released from custody late June 18. 

“Justice has not been served yet. Justice will be served when the ones who laid this plot against this country are put on trial,” Yıldız said while leaving Silivri prison, where a crowd had been waiting for her. 

Yıldız joins famous journalists Ahmet Şık and Nedim Şener on the outside, after the pair were earlier released pending trial in the same case.

Yıldız said she did not know why she had been released, or why she had been imprisoned in the first place.

“Intellectuals, soldiers, deputies and the [former] chief of General Staff are behind bars. Does it matter if I am free now? I cannot say that justice has been served. When the ones who laid this plot against us are jailed in prison either in this world or ‘the next one,’ [that’s when justice will be served],” Yıldız said. 

“I have been begging for justice for months, but apparently we will have to find this ‘illegal organization’ that we were accused of managing by ourselves,” she said. 

The journalist said she had even forgotten how to speak while in jail. “I have been all alone in my cell, as you see, I’m having difficulties speaking.”

The case regarding OdaTV, an online news portal known for its fierce criticism of government policies, began after police conducted a search of the website’s offices in February 2011, as part of the ongoing Ergenekon investigation.

The Ergenekon case is investigating an alleged coup plot that allegedly aimed to topple the government by fomenting chaos in society. Yıldız’s next hearing will be held Sept. 14.