Court rules for release of Zaman chief editor, Samanyolu manager arrested

Zaman daily Editor-in-Chief Ekrem Dumanlı (L) and Samanyolu Broadcast Group head Hidayet Karaca (R) pose smiling at the camera after the announcement of the ruling. (Photo: Cihan)
Zaman daily Editor-in-Chief Ekrem Dumanlı (L) and Samanyolu Broadcast Group head Hidayet Karaca (R) pose smiling at the camera after the announcement of the ruling. (Photo: Cihan)


Date posted: December 19, 2014

A Turkish court ruled on Friday to release the editor-in-chief of the Zaman daily, five days after he was detained on charges of forming and leading an armed terrorist organization.

The court ruled that four others, including Samanyolu TV General Manager Hidayet Karaca, be arrested pending trial.

Zaman Editor-in-Chief Dumanlı and Karaca were detained on Sunday along with a number of other journalists, scriptwriters, producers and police officials in an operation largely viewed as a politically-motivated crackdown on the critical media. Some of the detainees were already released following questioning.

A court ordered that Dumanlı and seven others who were detained on Dec. 14 to be released. However, Karaca and former police chiefs Tufan Ergüder, Ertan Erçıktı and Mustafa Kılıçaslan will be jailed pending trial. They were arrested on charges of forming and leading an armed terrorist organization.

He was released due to lack of evidence. His release, which was announced soon after he learned that his wife had given birth to a baby girl on Friday morning, comes on the condition that he doesn’t leave the country.

Thousands gathered outside Çağlayan Courthouse in İstanbul to show support for the detained journalists and police officials. While crowds celebrated the release of Dumanlı in the courtyard of the courthouse, they protested the arrest order for Karaca and the former police chiefs.

According to reports circulating in the Turkish media, no one except the suspects and their lawyers were allowed in the courtroom.

The testimonies of Dumanlı and Karaca were taken 80 hours after they were first taken into custody.

In his remarks after the ruling was announced, Karaca said: “We believe in God; there is no room for sorrow. … When there is an arrest based on a fictional scenario, it means that the ruling is fictional too.” He added that those who ruled for his arrest will also be put on trial one day.

Source: Today's Zaman , December 19, 2014

Tags: | | | |


Related News

Gülen’s lawyer denies Turkish schools working against host nations

Lawyer of Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen has categorically rejected claims made by the Turkish president that schools opened by sympathizers of the Gülen movement in Africa are working against host nations.

Somali denies allegations that ‘aid supplies did not reach camp’

The claim was also denied by the person in charge of the camp, Ibrahim Abdinur Muhammed, demonstrating that defamatory activities are being conducted by pro-government media outlets against Hizmet movement.
Muhammed said the organization had helped 450 families living in the camp and that it continues to send assistance to the camps in six other locations in Somali in the form of health and food supplies and clothing as well as education tools.

Former intel chief calls for use of ASALA, MOSSAD tactics to kill Gülen followers

İsmail Hakkı Pekin, a former intelligence chief of the Turkish General Staff, has suggested that Turkey make use of tactics it used against Armenian militant group, the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA), and those employed by Israeli intelligence agency MOSSAD against Nazis in order to assassinate followers of the Gülen movement abroad.

Turkey’s anti-Gulen crackdown continues with Yemeni students after Nigerians

Turkish authorities have deported 5 Yemeni students at official universities which the authorities have recently shut down for links with US-based Muslim cleric, Fethullah Gulen. Tens of Yemeni students in Turkey are facing the risk of deportation for being students at universities administered by Fethullah Gulen’s movement.

Angela Merkel, Meeting With Erdogan in Turkey, Emphasizes Free Speech

Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany emphasized the importance of freedom of opinion in talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey on Thursday, during a visit meant to help improve frayed ties between the two NATO allies.

Turkish coup attempt: who is Fethullah Gülen?

The Turkish government, including President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has pointed the finger at Fethullah Gülen – also known as leader of the Hizmet movement – as the mastermind behind Friday’s attempted coup by the country’s military. But who is Gülen? We take a look at the Islamic cleric and how he has affected Erdoğan’s presidency

Latest News

Fethullah Gulen – man of education, peace and dialogue – passes away

Fethullah Gülen’s Condolence Message for South African Human Rights Defender Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Hizmet Movement Declares Core Values with Unified Voice

Ankara systematically tortures supporters of Gülen movement, Kurds, Turkey Tribunal rapporteurs say

Erdogan possessed by Pharaoh, Herod, Hitler spirits?

Devious Use of International Organizations to Persecute Dissidents Abroad: The Erdogan Case

A “Controlled Coup”: Erdogan’s Contribution to the Autocrats’ Playbook

Why is Turkey’s Erdogan persecuting the Gulen movement?

Purge-victim man sent back to prison over Gulen links despite stage 4 cancer diagnosis

In Case You Missed It

Gülen’s ideas address the entire world

New York Times interviews Mr. Gulen

Mr. Minister, please look at yourself in the mirror

The aftermath of the failed Turkey coup: Torture, beatings and rape

Gülen, Hizmet, the state and the AKP

Failing to arrest outspoken NBA star, Turkish gov’t detains father

Mongolia’s Elite Schools sponsor reading halls at pediatric hospital

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News