Journalist Furkan Karabay, who was arrested on Nov 9 over a news report and social media posts regarding the investigation into detained Esenyurt Mayor Prof. Dr. Ahmet Özer, has been released following a court decision.
The İstanbul 17th Penal Court of First Instance ruled in favor of an appeal filed by Karabay’s lawyers. In its decision, the court noted that Karabay is a journalist and stated, “The detention measure is not consistent with the contents of the case file, and judicial control could have been applied instead.”
The decision was announced by the DİSK Basın İş press workers' union on its social media account, which stated, “Our member Furkan Karabay has been released following the lawyers’ appeal. Our determination to report the truth will continue!”
Background
Karabay, a reporter for 10Haber, had published an article on Nov 6 titled *‘From A to Z: The Ahmet Özer investigation – Concerts, state reports, condolences, and a father’s photo used as grounds for detention.’* The article examined the circumstances surrounding the arrest of Ahmet Özer, the former CHP mayor of Esenyurt who was replaced by a government-appointed trustee.
Karabay also posted a series of tweets on his personal X account following the rejection of Özer’s detention appeal. In these posts, he mentioned İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor Akın Gürlek, recently criticized by CHP’s Özgür Özel as a "mobile guillotine," and Deputy Chief Public Prosecutor Can Tuncay.
Karabay detailed how Gürlek and Tuncay were acquaintances from their time at Marmara University’s Faculty of Law and noted that Tuncay had been involved in numerous FETÖ investigations. He also highlighted controversial details regarding an indictment prepared by Tuncay concerning a member of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK). (VK)
