Court arrests daily Cumhuriyet’s web editor on ‘terror propaganda’

Damla Güler - ISTANBUL

An Istanbul court on May 15 ordered the arrest of Oğuz Güven, the chief online editor of daily Cumhuriyet, on terror charges three days after he was detained over a tweet shared on the daily’s Twitter account regarding the death of a chief public prosecutor.

Police detained Güven on May 12 in the early hours of the morning, citing a controversially worded tweet reporting the death of Denizli Chief Public Prosecutor Mustafa Alper after he was killed in a car accident in the Merkezefendi district of the southwestern province of Denizli.

In his testimony, Güven reportedly said he did not tweet the report himself, adding that it was “shared completely by mistake” in a bid to break the news urgently.

He also noted that the related tweet was deleted 55 seconds after it was shared on Cumhuriyet’s official Twitter account.

“That is an indication of the fact that the tweet was posted by mistake,” Güven reportedly testified, denying any “bad intent” behind the post.

However, the court ordered the arrest of Güven on charges of “engaging in terror organization propaganda.”

Alper, 48, and his driver, Muzaffer Akşehirli, were killed on May 10 when a truck laden with debris crashed into their car on a highway. 

He was the first chief public prosecutor to launch an investigation into the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ) after the failed July 15, 2016 coup attempt, widely believed to have been masterminded by followers of U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen.

A total of 12 Cumhuriyet columnists and executives are currently in prison on alleged terror charges.