ISTANBUL, Turkey - Two Turkish journalists convicted of violating Turkey's state secrets law were released late on Tuesday the very same day they returned to prison after losing an appeal against their jail sentences, their lawyer told AFP.
The 2020 trial concerned a news report alleging that a Turkish intelligence officer was killed in Libya after Ankara provided support to the UN-recognised government in Tripoli.
In September that year, the Istanbul court sentenced Aydin Keser, Ferhat Celik and Murat Agirel -- who works for the Yenicag daily -- to four years and eight months in jail each on charges of violating the Turkish Intelligence Agency (MIT) law.
It sentenced then OdaTV editor-in-chief Baris Pehlivan and reporter Hulya Kilinc to three years and nine months each on the same charges.
Agirel and Pehlivan tweeted on Tuesday that they were returning to prison.
"A third time... We're here, we're going... Goodbye for now," Pehlivan tweeted, with a selfie in front of what appeared to be Istanbul's main Caglayan courthouse.
"I am going to prison again because I called the sons who were martyred for the homeland martyrs," Agirel tweeted.
"People who cannot deny anything I have written until now think they can silence me with injustice," he added.
Hours later, the pair were released from prison, their lawyer Huseyin Ersoz told AFP.
"And freedom has come. Just now!" the lawyer also tweeted, sharing a picture with the freed journalists.
Turkish media said Kilinc, who was jailed Tuesday in the western province of Manisa after undergoing a health check, was also expected to walk free.
Turkey comes under frequent criticism from rights defenders, who say Ankara undermines media freedom by jailing journalists and shutting down critical media outlets.
Reporters Without Borders placed Turkey 153rd out of 180 nations on its Press Freedom Index for 2021.
Updated at 10:13 pm
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