A Turkish court on Thursday ruled to release an opposition lawmaker after having sentenced him to five years and 10 months for his role in leaking secret documents during the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) trucks case.
Enis Berberoğlu, the first lawmaker from the Republican People's Party (CHP) to be sentenced following the July 2016 failed coup attempt, was sentenced in February on charges of supplying confidential information regarding the country's intelligence service to two journalists, Can Dündar and Erdem Gül, in the controversial "MIT trucks" case.
On Thursday, Turkey's court of appeals ruled Berberoğlu's sentence should be suspended until he completes his term in the Turkish parliament.
In January 2014, trucks belonging to MIT carrying aid to northern Syria, where Turkmens had been exposed to heavy airstrikes and attacks under the Assad regime, were stopped and intercepted by security forces upon the order of former Adana Public Prosecutor Özcan Şişman and Brigade General Hamza Celepoğlu.
The supplies in the trucks were seized and MIT staffers were handcuffed before they were detained. The case stunned the nation as it was the first time that the army explicitly intervened with Turkey's intelligence agency. The operation was conducted hurriedly and the governor of the province was informed about the incident in its latest phase.
It was later revealed that the raid was actually a plot by the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) to embarrass and discredit the government via its followers who had infiltrated the army and judiciary.
Born in 1956, Berberoğlu started his career as a journalist in 1981. He served as the editor-in-chief of Hürriyet newspaper between 2009 and 2014. Berberoğlu was elected to the CHP Party Caucus in 2014 and he was appointed vice-chairman in charge of media relations. Berberoğlu was elected Istanbul deputy twice in June and November 2015 general elections.
