Journalist and former editor-in-chief of the daily newspaper Yeni Yaşam Gazetesi, Osman Akın, was sentenced to one and a half years in prison for "propaganda for a terrorist organization" during the hearing at 24th Heavy Penal Court in Istanbul. Akın was represented by his lawyer Özcan Kılıç who rejected the accusations.

Akın’s report on lawyers’ visit to Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan was interpreted as "propaganda for a terrorist organisation".

On 9 January, Akın was sentenced to a suspended sentence of five months for "denigration of the state and its symbols" in connection with an article about brutal attack against civilians who had been kidnapped by jihadist militias from Afrin and then handed over to the Turkish secret service, tortured and then imprisoned in Turkey. The journalist was sentenced to a suspended sentence of five months. The announcement of the verdict was postponed for a period of five years. Lawyer Kılıç lodged an appeal against the verdict.