Turkish court upholds life sentences for journalist Ahmet Altan, five others

A Turkish court upheld life sentences on Tuesday for prominent journalist Ahmet Altan and five others, after they were sentenced in February on charges of aiding the plotters in a failed military coup in 2016.

Ahmet Altan, his brother Mehmet Altan, and four other journalists were previously sentenced to life in jail for alleged links to the network of U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, accused by Ankara of orchestrating the 2016 coup attempt.

Mehmet Altan was later released from prison in June, but his sentence was also upheld on Tuesday, after a penal court rejected the constitutional court's request for his release.

All six are serving aggravated life sentences, which means they are not eligible for parole and cannot be included in future amnesty decisions.