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Demonstration against the arrest of Ahmet Nesin, Sebnem Korur Fincanci and Erol Onderoglu (in red T-shirt, on the right in the photo) in front of the pro-Kurdish newspaper Ozgur Gundem, in the center of Istanbul, June 21, 2016 REUTERS / Murad Sezer

The verdict could fall on Monday (April 15th) in the trial of Reporters Without Borders (RSF) representative in Turkey, Erol Onderoglu, and two other human rights defenders prosecuted for "terrorist propaganda", "apology for crime" and "incitement to commit a crime ". The "crime" in question was to have taken part, in May 2016, in a solidarity campaign with a Kurdish daily newspaper. They risk several years in prison. RFI met Erol Onderoglu on the eve of the verdict.

With our correspondent in Istanbul, Anne Andlauer

For almost three years, he had been reluctant to discuss his case for fear of drawing attention to his personal case. Now, journalist Erol Onderoglu, RSF's representative in Turkey for 23 years, says he is "in a hurry to finish ".

" It represented one of the files among the hundreds that I followed, it bothered me a lot. It is inevitable that as the verdict approaches, the file approaches you and you become aware that there will be family consequences, professional, perhaps months locked between four walls, etc. He said.

Erol Onderoglu risks up to seven and a half years in prison for three articles published in the Kurdish daily Ozgur Gundem , banned in August 2016.

He who, report after report, mentions the disappearance of the freedom of the press and the judicial independence in Turkey, does not make any illusion.

" A country so dynamic for rapprochement with the European Union is now facing an ideological cleansing. Civil society and critical journalists have their share in this repression. What we have left is to assert our rights is to assert our values, and we will pay if necessary, obviously, "he says.

In the latest ranking of press freedom, Turkey ranks 157th out of 180 countries. A fall of 55 places compared to 2008.