The second hearing began as the newspaper’s editor-in-chief Murat Sabuncu testified after his plea had been adjourned over his statement that gendarmerie officers had confiscated documents and newspaper reports for the plea.
The 17 defendants from Cumhuriyet daily were detained from October last year and a dozen of them have now spent more than eight months in jail.
Sabuncu said they had waited for the indictment to be prepared for five months and spent nine months for the hearing, facing a serious isolation. Regarding claims that he spoke with suspects who used ByLock, a messaging application used by the Gülen network, Sabuncu said a journalist would connect with anyone under the condition of keeping their distance.
Sabuncu said he had never visited U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen, one the masterminds of failed coup attempt, and did not pen a single piece praising his work.
Turkish prosecutors are seeking up to 43 years in jail for newspaper staff accused of targeting Erdoğan through "asymmetric war methods". They are charged with supporting in the newspaper's writings no less than three groups considered by Turkey as terror outfits -- the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), the ultra-left Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C) and Gülen's network.
The 324-page indictment alleges Cumhuriyet was effectively taken over by the network of Fethullah Gülen and used to "veil the actions of terrorist groups".
