ANKARA (Sputnik) — Last week, the Turkish Constitutional Court ruled that the detention of journalists Can Dundar and Erdem Gul from the Cumhuriyet newspaper was a violation of their rights. Erdogan refused to respect the court’s decision, accusing the journalists of espionage.
"Not I, but the Constitutional Court violated the Constitution. It set itself as the highest court and this is the wrong step for our justice," Erdogan told reporters, as quoted by the Hurriyet newspaper.
In November 2015, Dundar and Gul, respectively the editor and Ankara bureau chief of the opposition newspaper Cumhuriyet, were arrested after Erdogan and the head of Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT) made accusations against them for having brought to light MIT's involvement in arms deliveries to Syria.
Dundar and Gul's trial is scheduled to begin on March 25. They each face aggravated life sentence, an additional life sentence, as well as 30 years in prison for revealing state secrets.
