The Instanbul 14th High Criminal Court on Tuesday upheld Enis Berberoğlu’s 25-year prison sentence, finding the appeals court did not have grounds to order a retrial [Reuters report].

Berberoğlu, deputy of the main opposition party, Republican People’s Party (CHP), was convicted of military espionage in June after he allegedly reported video of Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MİT) transporting weapons to rebels in Syria. The investigation [Turkish Minute report] began with the journalists who reported the MIT’s suspicious acts, but the Istanbul Public Prosecutor’s Office tracked the information back to Berberoğlu after examining one journalist’s phone record history.

The High Criminal Court first sentenced Berberoğlu to life in prison but then reduced it to 25 years. The appeals court ordered a retrial in October but the High Criminal Court refused to do so, finding the appeals court had full authority to review the case, but its decision to overturn [Hurriyet Daily report] the sentence was “without due process of law and is against the law.”