Turkey’s Supreme Board of Radio and Television (RTUK) announced on Wednesday that Turkish media is banned from inquiring into corruption allegations against four former Cabinet members of the ruling Justice and Development Party. The decision went into effect on November 26 after a letter sent to the prosecutor’s office that states that the media could violate the “presumption of innocence” principle that protects “individual rights”.

The media were told that they face penalties if they violated the ban that remains in place until December 27.

The former ministers are Muammer Guler (interior), Zafer Caglayan (economy), Erdogan Bayraktar (environment) and Egemen Bagis (EU affiars) that are accused of being involved in a bribery ring with Iranian-origin businessman Reza Zarrab in a gold-for-oil trade with Iran.

The corruption probe was started on December 17, 2013, by an Istanbul criminal court. President Tayyip Erdogan was serving as prime minister at the time and though he removed the ministers he declared the the probe was a plot by a faction of the judiciary and the police force in order to overthrow his governor. He blames US-exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen for an attempted “judicial coup”.

The unprecedent decision sparked the fury of the Turkish media. “This decision nakedly violates both the legal articles and the law,” daily Cumhuriyet said in a press release. “May Cumhuriyet readers have no cause for worry; this decision is invalid for us both legally and in terms of journalistic ethics and responsibilities.” A number of journalists stated their intention to defy the ban.