Turkish Court Jails 3 Journalists Suspected of Having Links to Ergenekon

A Turkish court has jailed three journalists of a dissident news website pending trial on charges of links to an alleged network accused of plotting to topple the country’s Islamic-rooted government, AP reports.

Friday’s court ruling involved Soner Yalçın, the owner of Odatv, and two of his colleagues, editors Barış Pehlivan and Barış Terkoğl, whose offices and homes were raided by police earlier this week. That caused US Ambassador to Turkey Francis Ricciardone to express concern about media freedoms in Turkey.

The Turkish government criticized the ambassador for interfering in Turkey’s internal affairs and claimed Turkey has more press freedoms than most countries, including the Unites States.

Yalçın was later questioned by public prosecutor Zekeriya Öz and was arrested on charges of “obtaining and publishing documents related to state security,” “being a member of the Ergenekon organization” and “inciting hatred and emnity among the public,” reports the Hurriyet Daily News & Economic Review.

Yalçın, Pehlivan and Terkoğlu were sent to Metris prison in Istanbul.

Note, the journalists are suspected of having ties to the ultranationalist group Ergenekon, for which about 400 former officials, politicians and retired officers are already on trial. According to testimonies uncovered by a number of Turkish journalists, Ergenekon members are also suspected in the case of slain Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink.