ISTANBUL: A Turkish court on Thursday acquitted four journalists, including AFP photographer Yasin Akgul, who were on trial over mass demonstrations in Istanbul in March, a case that drew condemnation from press freedom watchdogs.

The four, all photographers, were arrested in dawn raids several days into a huge wave of protests sparked by the arrest of Istanbul’s powerful opposition mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, a top opponent of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

They — like thousands of protesters — were accused of violating the law on demonstrations and public gatherings.

“There is no solid basis that the defendants committed the alleged offence,” the judge said, ruling to acquit.

Akgul is the only one employed by an international media outlet; the other three are Ali Onur Tosun of Turkish broadcaster NOW Haber and freelancers Bulent Kilic and Zeynep Kuray.

None of them were present at the court in Istanbul.

AFP’s management had repeatedly called for Akgul’s acquittal, with his lawyer Kemal Kumkumoglu telling the court at the last hearing on October 24 that there had been no criminal wrongdoing.

Media rights group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) welcomed the decision in a case it has described as “unlawful”.

“The acquittal of the journalists was a relief, but it also showed their arrests were arbitrary,” RSF’s Erol Onderoglu told AFP, saying it was aimed at “obstructing the public’s right to access news”.

The protests, which spread from Istanbul across the country, were the biggest since massive anti-government demonstrations that began at Istanbul’s Gezi Park in 2013 and swept the country.

Imamoglu, who remains in jail, was arrested as part of a corruption probe.

But his jailing was widely seen as a political move, with the mayor considered the only politician with a chance of beating Erdogan at the ballot box.

– ‘Pressure on press freedom’ –

AFP’s Akgul said the decision was expected even though it came late.

“Now that the psychological strain of the trial process and my difficulty in focusing are gone, I will continue on my path with even more reporting,” he told AFP after the verdict.

“The right decision has been made. I hope that other journalists who are still inside will also be freed as soon as possible,” he said.

Akgul’s lawyer Kumkumoglu said he was waiting for documents to see the judge’s reasoning in order to understand the final decision.

“We need to wait for the decision with the reasoning and then the objection period. Only then we can have a final decision,” he said.

In Turkey, journalists and publishing executives are regularly targeted by arrests, with TV channels and other outlets hit with temporary suspensions, heavy fines or both.

Kumkumoglu said the arrests had set a worrying precedent: that “whenever journalists go to cover any demonstration, they may be treated as protesters, detained or taken from their homes”.

“Whatever they do, it also means that the authorities may choose not to recognise them as journalists,” he said.

“This situation creates a serious risk and puts pressure on press freedom and the right to receive information.”

On Wednesday, a Turkish court sentenced popular political journalist and commentator Fatih Altayli to four years in prison for “threatening” Erdogan.

RSF places Turkey 159th out of 180 countries in its world press freedom rankings.