Ayşenur Parıldak, a former courthouse reporter for the now-defunct Zaman newspaper and a student of law at Ankara University, was arrested on 3 August 2016 and imprisoned pending trial a week later on charges of “membership in a terrorist organization” over alleged ties with the Fethullah Gülen network, which the government accuses of plotting the 15 July 2016 coup attempt.

The Zaman newspaper, where Parıldak worked between 2012 and 2016, was closed under a statutory decree issued in July 2016.

Parıldak appeared before court for her first hearing six months after her imprisonment, in February 2017. On 1 May 2017, the Ankara 14th High Criminal Court ruled for her release pending trial under judicial control measures and a travel ban but Parıldak was rearrested hours later upon the prosecutor’s objection. The prosecutor cited new evidence regarding Parıldak’s alleged use of ByLock, an encrypted messaging app reportedly used exclusively by members of the Gülen network, as proof of “membership in FETÖ.”

The final hearing of her trial was held on 21 November 2017. In her final defense statement to the court, Parıldak rejected the allegation that she had used ByLock. At the end of the hearing, the court sentenced Parıldak to 7 years and 6 months in prison on the charge of “membership in an armed terrorist organization” based on her alleged use of ByLock, her social media posts and the allegations that she had exchanged messages with the user of the Twitter account “fuatavni.” The court also ordered the continuation of Parıldak’s imprisonment.

Appeal rejected

Parıldak's lawyers appealed against the sentence, which was rejected by a regional court of justice on 7 June 2018. The Supreme Court of Appeals upheld Parıldak’s sentence on 27 December 2018, finalizing her conviction.

Top court rejects individual application 

An individual application was filed with the Constitutional Court by Parıldak’s lawyers on 24 March 2017, claiming that Parıldak’s unlawful arrest violated her right to liberty and security, right to respect for private and family life, right to be free from inhuman or degrading treatment, right to education, and freedom of expression and freedom of the press. The Constitutional Court unanimously rejected Parıldak's application on 28 November 2018, finding her claims “inadmissible.”

Release on probation denied

Parıldak became eligible for release on probation as of March 2021. But two separate applications to the prison administration by her lawyers were rejected based on “lack of definitive and credible evidence that she did not have any ties with the terrorist organization.”

After spending 5 years and 7 months behind bars, Parıldak was finally released from prison on 18 March 2022 upon serving her full sentence.