Ahmet Altan, born 1950 in Ankara, is a journalist and writer. He wrote for various newspapers before he founded the daily newspaper Taraf in 2007. In 2016 he was arrested for alleged support of a terrorist organization and sentenced to life imprisonment. The sentence was later reduced to ten years, which Altan is currently serving in Silivri prison. In 2019 he was awarded the Geschwister-Scholl Prize.