The İstanbul 3rd Criminal Magistrate's Court issued an access ban on four news articles by bianet upon the request of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's former lawyer, Mustafa Doğan İnal. The total number of censored contents by the court amounts to 117.
In addition to bianet, Halk TV, KRT TV, Kronos, BirGün, Gazete Pencere, Yeşil Gazete, T24, Ahval News, TELE 1, Patronlar Dünyası, Kısa Dalga, dokuz8, Yeniçağ, Cumhuriyet, soL Haber, Independent, Anka News Agency, Yakınçağ, a3haber.com, Gerçek Gündem, Siyasi Haber, and Artı Gerçek, along with their news, as well as content on YouTube, X, Facebook, Ekşi Sözlük, TikTok, and the posts of the Freedom of Expression Association, which announces and reports access restrictions, have also been subjected to censorship.
The bianet news articles with the following titles have been restricted from access:
- Former lawyer of Erdoğan sentenced journalists reporting bribery allegations to prison
- Mafia obstructs the state's path, investigation opened against journalists
- Once again, Erdoğan's former lawyer: Access blocked to 48 articles
- Former lawyer of Erdoğan requested, access blocked to 130 articles
The decision dated December 22 includes news articles and posts involving various allegations associated with İnal.
These cover a range of topics, from engaging in bribery negotiations with the court for TEFAL to involvement in the "FETÖ market"*, receiving a power of attorney fee of 15 million TL from İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality, and prosecuting journalists reporting on him.
In July 2022, İnal censored 130 pieces of content, followed by 48 pieces in August of the same year, and more than 150 pieces in October.
* FETÖ Market: A term widely used to indicate individuals who allegedly assisted, for financial gain, those accused of being affiliated with the illegal armed terrorist organization FETÖ (in connection to Fettullah Gülen), declared as such following the coup attempt in 2016. It refers to those who in the judicial organization aided the suspects in cases related to FETÖ membership, the coup attempt, and other related charges.
(HA/PE)
