judgment in absentia
“After 4 years, 8 months and 20 days”: German journalist Mesale Tolu acquitted in Turkey
Spent eight months in Turkish custody: Ulm-born journalist Mesale Tolu (archive image)
© Stefan Puchner / Picture Alliance
Turkey had accused Mesale Tolu of terror propaganda and locked her up for months. A court in Istanbul has now acquitted the German journalist, who is now back in her home country.
The German-Turkish journalist Mesale Tolu was acquitted at the end of a trial in Turkey. “After 4 years, 8 months and 20 days: acquitted on both counts!” she tweeted on Monday after the verdict in Istanbul. Tolu and her husband Suat Corlu did not attend the trial. They returned to Germany in 2018 and 2019 respectively. Tolu had previously been in Turkish custody for around eight months.
The Greens member of the Bundestag Max Lucks, chairman of the human rights committee and member of the foreign affairs committee, confirmed that Suat Corlu was also acquitted: “I am in Istanbul as a representative of the Bundestag to observe the trial against the German journalist Meşale Tolu”, he tweeted. “She and her husband Suat Çorlu were acquitted a few minutes ago! That was overdue.”
In the original indictment, prosecutors had accused Tolu, her husband and others of membership in the far-left Marxist-Leninist Communist Party (MLCP) and terrorist propaganda. The MLCP is considered a terrorist organization in Turkey.
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