A court has lifted the house arrest and international travel ban imposed on journalist Furkan Karabay, who was detained and subsequently placed in house arrest on Jan 23.
The restriction stemmed from an investigation into Karabay's reports and social media posts regarding a 2025 crackdown on the opposition-controlled İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality, which saw Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu imprisoned for over a year and suspended from office.
The İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office announced today that since a final ruling on the case is pending, the judicial control measures against the suspect were being removed.
Karabay is facing charges of "publicly spreading misleading information" and "targeting individuals involved in the fight against terrorism."
International call for release of detained journalist Furkan Karabay facing up to 15 years in prison
His reporting prior to the detention focused on Fatih Dönmez, a prosecutor promoted to the İstanbul Anatolian Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office while overseeing the municipality investigation.
Karabay's reporting included the allegation that Dönmez had formalized an anonymous, unsigned petition regarding Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu into an official document.
Karabay has been detained multiple times over the past two years in connection with investigations involving his journalistic work and social media posts.
BİA MEDIA MONITORING REPORT 2025
Those who want to silence journalists are now more brazen!
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