PodcastState broadcaster staff face Gülen charges in slain Russian envoy case
Six state broadcaster TRT employees are facing charges of being members of the Gülenist organization in the case into the killing of Russian envoy Andrei Karlov in 2016 via broadcasting the moment that the ambassador was assassinated by Mevlüt Mert Altıntaş. The fact that the employees recorded the moment of killing via 3G and aired it is a planned propaganda act of the Gülenists, the indictment said.
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Six employees of the state broadcaster TRT are accused of being members of the organization of the U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen in a case into the killing of Russian Ambassador Andrei Karlov.
According to an indictment prepared by Ankara Public Prosecutor Adem Akıncı, the employees are accused of making propaganda for the Gülenists via broadcasting the footage of the assassination.
Karlov was assassinated at an art gallery in the Turkish capital on Dec. 19, 2016 by Mevlüt Mert Altıntaş, an off-duty police officer believed to be linked to the Gülenists - the group widely believed to have carried out the failed coup attempt of 2016 and that is accepted as a terrorist organization by Ankara.
TRT aired the footage following the assassination, prompting the prosecutor to accuse them of being members of and aiding Gülenists.
The fact that the employees recorded the moment of killing via 3G and aired it is a planned propaganda act of the Gülenists, the indictment said, adding that TRT had never broadcast any speeches of envoys in cultural events via 3G technology prior to this incident.
The indictment also said that the Gülenists planned to show the footage in TRT prime-time news in order for Altıntaş's slogans to be heard live by the viewers.