An İstanbul court on Monday ruled for the release from pretrial detention of a journalist who was arrested earlier this month over his reports and social media posts concerning an investigation into an opposition mayor, the Bianet news website reported.
Furkan Karabay, a reporter with the 10Haber news website, was detained early on November 8 after writing on X the names of prosecutors conducting an investigation into Ahmet Özer.
Özer, the mayor of İstanbul’s Esenyurt district from the main opposition Republican People’s Party, was arrested on October 30 after prosecutors accused him of having ties to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey and its Western allies.
Karabay was arrested the following day on the charges that his social media posts were “targeting public officials involved in the fight against terrorism.”
The İstanbul 17th Penal Court of First Instance, which examined an objection to the journalist’s pretrial detention filed by his lawyers, ruled for his release on Monday.
Karabay was subsequently released from Marmara Prison in İstanbul, where most of Turkey’s political prisoners are jailed.
“I hope this will be the last injustice both Furkan and other journalists are subjected to,” said Karabay’s lawyer, Enes Ermaner, on X as he recalled the judicial harassment Karabay and other journalists in Turkey face due to their journalistic activities.
In a series of tweets on X, Karabay had mentioned the names of İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor Akın Gürlek and his deputy, Can Tuncay, as he talked about the background of the investigation into Özer. He said these prosecutors were notorious for launching investigations into government opponents and critics.
In his statement to court, Karabay denied the accusation, saying the names of the prosecutors were reported by a number of media outlets and that CHP leader Özgür Özel himself mentioned name of the prosecutor.
Özel at the time condemned the investigation into the mayor, saying that the prosecutor was instructed by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Karabay’s arrest attracted condemnation from press freedom groups and the CHP.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) representative Erol Önderoğlu said the journalist’s pretrial detention aims to mete out punishment in advance.
RSF ranked Turkey 158th out of 180 countries in its 2024 World Press Freedom Index.
“The arrest of a journalist solely for reporting and informing the public is a serious blow to press freedom and democratic values,” the Progressive Journalists Association also said in a statement.