A Turkish court on Thursday sentenced two prominent Turkish journalists to two years behind bars for illustrating their columns with a controversial cartoon published by French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, their lawyer said. The sentence handed to the columnists for the opposition Cumhuriyet daily Hikmet Cetinkaya and Ceyda Karan — which is still subject to appeal — comes amid growing alarm over press freedoms in Turkey.
“The two journalists were sentenced to two years each in jail,” said Bulent Utku, lawyer of the pair. “But we will appeal the ruling at the appeals court,” he said.