ISTANBUL: A Turkish court on Friday acquitted two Bloomberg reporters of trying to sabotage the economy with an article about the currency crisis of 2018. The journalists and other defendants, including economists, went on trial in 2019 and faced up to five years in prison if convicted.

Some of them had simply joked about the currency crisis on Twitter. The Istanbul court dropped the charges, saying there was “no legal elements of the said crime,” the private DHA news agency reported.

The Bloomberg article was published in August 2018 on a dramatic day when the lira lost around a fifth of its value against the dollar over a diplomatic spat with then US president Donald Trump.

Conspiracy theories are widely believed in Turkey, and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has often accused foreign media of trying to undermine the country. Contacted by AFP, Erol Onderoglu of Reporters Without Borders confirmed the acquittal.