Salih İzzet Erdiş, a renowned journalist and writer known for his articles on Islam, was acquitted Wednesday in a trial in which he was charged with running a terrorist organization. Erdiş, also known as "Salih Mirzabeyoğlu," was released from prison in 2014 after spending 16 years in prison for alleged leadership of the Great Eastern Islamic Raiders' Front (İBDA-C), a group accused of terrorism. His appeal for a retrial was accepted and he was subsequently released from prison where he was serving a life sentence.
Erdiş, 66, had published a series of magazines and penned articles that called for the empowerment of Muslims in Turkey in the 1970s and the following decades. He was arrested in 1998 on terror charges in the wake of a military coup that targeted conservative citizens. In 2001, he was sentenced to death for "attempting to change the constitutional order by arms," a charge of terrorism. His sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment in 2002 after Turkey abolished the death penalty.
His legal battle against what his lawyers called "illegitimate practices resulting from a military coup" culminated in a final appeal two years ago for a retrial, and he was eventually released pending trial by a court citing his lengthy incarceration.
