Prosecution

This week, as usual, lots of crazy things happened in Turkey. The most mind-boggling one for me, however, was an indictment prepared by the Istanbul Chief Prosecutor's Office against 18 journalists. They were accused of "making propaganda for a terrorist organization," with the prosecutor asking for up to 7.5 years in prison for each.

Three Turkish newspapers, including daily Hürriyet, are set to stand trial on charges of making propaganda for a terrorist organization for publishing a photo from a recent hostage crisis in Istanbul.

The Higher Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade has ordered the police to gather information and establish the facts about a controversial state lottery draw.

The prosecution wants information and facts about "the potential criminal responsibility and irregularities during the draw of the State Lottery of Serbia late on Tuesday," it was announced on Wednesday.

A former EU rule-of-law mission in Kosovo prosecutor who made claims of corruption said she has been threatened with criminal prosecution if she speaks publicly about her case against her ex-employers.

Zagreb County Court on Friday threw out an indictment filed by the Croatian Office for Suppression of Corruption and Organized Crime, USKOK, against Zagreb Mayor Milan Bandic.

Turkey?s top judicial body has given the green light to prosecute dozens of prosecutors on charges of delivering thousands of irregular decisions for wiretapping people, including high profile persons.

Nikolay Kitov, who is a member of the Boards at Technomarket and K&K Electronics, has been arrested in Bulgaria's capital Sofia, the Bulgarian prosecuting authority has said.

Managed by the Sofia City Prosecutor's Office, the operation to detain him was triggered by an ongoing probe into his alleged involvement in a millions-worth tax fraud scheme.

The Montenegrin Interior Minister on Wednesday said an ex-judge, Milivoje Katnic, would head up the country's new organised crime-busting department, creating conditions for the police and the prosecution to show better results in the fight against this scourge.

Reporter Canan Co?kun faces 23 years in prison for coverage of a story about top judicial officials allegedly buying discounted residences from a public real estate company.

Co?kun, who works for daily Cumhuriyet, will appear in court on Nov. 12 facing 23 years and four months in prison on charges of "insulting public officials over their duties."

The Venice Commission of the Council of Europe has expressed concerns over "serious interference with the independence of the judiciary in Turkey" which it had found to be apparent in several cases, referring to immediate and direct actions Turkey's High Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) took against judges and prosecutors on account of their decisions.