Turkey arrests journalist critical of gov’t on charge of ‘disseminating false information’

A journalist from a Turkish newspaper critical of the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was put in pretrial detention on Sunday for allegedly “spreading false information,” his publication said.

İsmail Arı, a journalist for the left-wing BirGün newspaper, was detained on Saturday evening in the northern province of Tokat, which he was visiting to celebrate the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, his paper said.

He was then taken to the capital of Ankara for questioning and put in pretrial detention, BirGün said.

“I was arrested because of a three-month-old video,” Arı said in a statement sent by his lawyers, without giving details.

“They’ve been looking for a pretext to arrest me for the past year.”

The İstanbul-based paper, known for its investigations into the Turkish government, did not specify what articles led to Arı’s arrest.

“İsmail has never lied to the people,” the newspaper posted on X.

At a protest in Ankara in support of Arı, BirGün editor Yaşar Aydın vowed: “We will not be silent. We will continue to write, speak and express ourselves.”

“Journalism is not a crime. İsmail Arı must be released immediately,” the Turkish Journalists’ Union wrote on X.

In late February, a Turkish journalist from Germany’s Deutsche Welle public broadcaster was likewise arrested and detained for the crime of allegedly “insulting the president,” prompting Berlin to demand his immediate release.

Rights group Reporters Without Borders ranks Turkey 159th out of 180 countries on its Press Freedom Index, between Pakistan and Venezuela.

© Agence France-Presse