Footage Reveals Journalist Barış Pehlivan Beaten by Prison Officer

Barış Pehlivan (third from left) at İstanbul Courthouse. Photo: AA

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Having been remanded in custody for violating the Law on National Intelligence Agency (MIT), OdaTV website's editor-in-chief Barış Pehlivan was beaten by an officer in the Silivri Prison, İstanbul, a recently revealed footage shows.

After being put in prison on March 6, Pehlivan had filed a complaint, alleging that he was beaten by an officer. The prosecutor's office decided not to prosecute the incident, stating that the claims were "disinformation."

Pro-government newspapers had put the prosecutor's office's statement on their headlines, accusing Pehlivan and his attorneys of lying.

OdaTV today (May 15) published security camera footahe showing the incident.

The footage shows that two police officers who brought Pehlivan to Silivri prison get out of a room where the journalist was in, a prison officer enters into the room and hits him in the back.

What happened?

Odatv news website News Director Barış Terkoğlu and reporter Hülya Kılınç were detained from their homes in İstanbul and Manisa in early morning hours on March 4. Kılınç was taken to İstanbul for the investigation.

Terkoğlu and Kılınç were arrested by the İstanbul 4th Penal Judgeship of Peace in the evening on the same day.

On March 5, the Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK) imposed an access block on Odatv.

Summoned to depose as part of the same investigation on March 5, Odatv Editor-in-Chief Barış Pehlivan was also arrested on March 6.

On the same day, daily Yeni Yaşam Editor-in-Chief Ferhat Çelik and Managing Editor Aydın Keser were referred to court for arrest as part of the same investigation. They were released on probation by the court.

Next day, on March 7, daily Yeniçağ columnist Murat Ağırel was also referred to court for his arrest after deposing at the prosecutor's office. He was released on probation by the court.

Upon the objection of the prosecutor's office, Ferhat Çelik, Aydın Keser and Murat Ağırel were arrested on March 8.

On April 24, an indictment was issued against arrested journalists Barış Terkoğlu, Hülya Kılınç, Ferhat Çelik, Aydın Keser and Murat Ağırel as well as journalist Erk Acarer, who is abroad, and E.E., a Press Unit member from the Republican People's Party (CHP) Akhisar Municipality.

As announced by lawyer Celal Ülgen, it was later understood that the court ruled for the continuation of the pre-trial detention of the journalists in the absence of their attorneys. (HA/VK)