Thousands gathered on Thursday in Istanbul and the capital Ankara to protest against the sentencing of Enis Berberoglu, a member of the Turkish parliament for the Republican People's Party.
On June 14, a Turkish court sentenced Berberoglu to 25 years in jail on spying charges. The court stated he had “knowingly helped a terror organization” by providing “state secrets” to the media.
Berberoglu was accused of providing the secular Cumhuriyet newspaper with a video purporting to show trucks belonging to the Turkish National Intelligence Organization MIT. The trucks, supposedly carrying humanitarian aid and heading to Syria, were stopped and searched on January 19, 2014. Cumhuriyet later reported the trucks were carrying weapons and ammunition instead of aid.
On Thursday, Berberoglu was immediately arrested in the courthouse after the hearing – and will remain in prison during the appeal process. "The defendant has committed the crime of disclosing information that should remain secret for state security, domestic and external benefits, with the aim of political and military espionage," a court document shared by Turkish media said.
It is the first time a lawmaker of the Republican People's Party has been jailed since the parliament passed a law to lift immunity for members in 2016.
