Journalist Furkan Karabay has been remanded in custody following his reports and social media posts about the ongoing investigation into the recently arrested mayor of İstanbul’s Esenyurt district who was replaced by a government-appointed trustee.
Karabay, a reporter for the online news outlet 10Haber, was brought to court without a statement being taken by prosecutors and was referred directly to the magistrate’s court on Nov 9 with a request for formal arrest.
The charges against Karabay include “marking counterterrorism as a target for terror groups,” “insulting a public official,” and “publicly disseminating misleading information.” During his questioning, Karabay dismissed the accusations as “baseless,” asserting that his reporting had been objective and accurate.
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Karabay stated, “The posts in question are related to my reports published on 10Haber under my byline. I wrote about the investigation into Mayor Ahmet Özer’s detention in a fair, journalistic manner after examining the details of the case.”
He added that his article mentioned aspects of the charges against Özer and highlighted details that were public knowledge. “I have not distorted or added anything that was not in the official documents,” he said, explaining that this negates the claim of “disseminating misleading information.”
Karabay also challenged the accusation of “targeting individuals involved in counterterrorism,” calling it arbitrary. “There is no indication of whom or in what manner I allegedly targeted someone. I merely mentioned the roles of the chief prosecutor and deputy chief prosecutor, describing the cases they have worked on.”
Karabay had criticized İstanbul’s chief public prosecutor, Akın Gürlek, for his involvement in the investigation against Esenyurt Mayor Ahmet Özer. Gürlek has been a controversial figure, widely criticized by the opposition due to his involvement in several politically sensitive cases over the years.
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He further rejected the “insult” charge, claiming there was no language in his articles that could be construed as offensive. “I am simply performing my duty as a journalist and request that this investigation be dropped,” he concluded.
10Haber’s Editor-in-Chief Hakan Çelenk commented on Karabay’s detention via social media, saying, “They have arrested Furkan. This is meant as a warning. With no grounds beyond publicly available information, a journalist has been put behind bars without a single question. Freedom of expression will not arrive unexpectedly one night. We will continue our work without hesitation.” (VK)
