I had to think quite hard before signing a petition calling on the government to release prisoners before the court decides "guilty" or "not guilty". The trial starts today. I would be aggrieved if some foreign petition aimed to do the same in the UK. But then I remembered that when two Cumhurriyet journalists were released by the Constitutional Court, Erdogan responded by saying he didn't concur with it, didn't respect it and wouldn't obey it. A pretty clear signal to the courts that they shouldn't suppose they are independent of his authority. A petition may not be taken very seriously by RTE but reminds him that the we are watching his actions. It also gives moral support to the imprisoned academics.
By the way, the two journalists who were released had reported that the government had tried to ship arms to Daesh. Erdogan said this was not "free speech" but "espionage".