Özgür Gündem newspaper's publisher Kemal Sancılı, Editor-in-Chief İnan Kızılkaya, Editor-in-Chief on duty Eren Keskin and Editor-in-Chief Zana Kaya were previously sentenced to a total of 20 years and 10 months in prison for "being a member of a (terrorist) organization" and "conducting propaganda for a (terrorist) organization". The newspaper was previously closed down by a governmental decree.

The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor, which found the sentences insufficient, then applied to the Istanbul Regional Court of Justice, saying that a separate sentence should be given for each of the charges in the indictment. The 27th Criminal Chamber of the Istanbul Regional Court of Justice rejected the objection made by the prosecutor, but upheld the sentence given to journalists.

Sancılı, Kızılkaya and Keskin, who are accused of "destroying the unity of the state and the integrity of the country" and "being a member of a (terrorist) organization" and "making propaganda for a (terrorist) organization" in the indictment, were sentenced to 6 years and 3 months in prison while Kaya was sentenced to 2 years and 1 month in prison for "making propaganda for a (terrorist) organization" during the trial held on 15 February, 2021.