Two former journalists for Mezopotamya Agency (MA), Sadiye Eser and Sadık Topaloğlu, have been sentenced to 6 years and 3 months in prison for "being a member of an illegal organization."

The ninth hearing of the case was held on Thursday at the Istanbul 22nd Heavy Penal Court.

The sentence was based on the statements by an anonymous witness who didn't attend any of the hearings. The journalists did not attend Thursday’s hearing while their lawyers, Ayşe Acinikli and Özcan Kılıç, did.

Lawyer Kılıç said that the Court of Cassation ruled that the allegations of a witness who was not heard face to face should not be taken into account.

He also said that a Kurdish song on Eser's phone was cited as evidence in the case.