Turkish court releases five Cumhuriyet journalists from prison

Five jailed journalists and staff members of the anti-establishment Cumhuriyet newspaper have been freed on the orders of an appeals court.

Cartoonist Musa Kart and Hakan Kara, Mustafa Kemal Gungor, Guray Oz and Onder Celik were released from Kandira prison in Kocaeli in northwest Turkey late on Thursday, where they were met by their family and lawyers.

They had been sentenced to less than five years in jail, which usually leads to a suspended sentence in Turkish courts.

The journalists were convicted on terror-related charges, accused of supporting terror groups, including FETO and PKK. 

They were briefly freed while appealing their convictions, which were upheld in February by a court in Istanbul. 

They were then returned to Kandira prison near Istanbul to serve the rest of their sentences.