Turkish singer Atilla Taş and journalist Murat Aksoy were jailed once again on March 8 for their suspected links to the Fetullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ), according to a judicial source.
Istanbul’s 25th Criminal Court handed a jail term of three years, one month and 15 days to Taş, and two years and one month to Aksoy for “helping the organization knowingly and willingly,” while not being “a part of the hierarchical structure within the organization,” said the source, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.
The two had been arrested in April last year, while charges against them were dropped in October after they spent over half a year behind bars.
During the same hearing, 23 other suspects were handed jail terms ranging from six years and three months to seven years and six months, as part of a probe into FETÖ’s structure in media.
They are accused of “being a member of a terror group” and of “participating in a coup attempt.”
Gökçe Firat Çulhaoğlu and Hanım Büşra Erdal were also among journalists who received jail terms of six years and three months.
Turkey accuses FETÖ and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gülen of having orchestrated the defeated coup attempt of July 15, 2016, which left 250 people killed and nearly 2,200 injured.