Istanbul, November 11, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Turkish authorities to immediately free reporter Furkan Karabay, who was seized from his home at dawn on Friday after he published a report about the arrest of an opposition mayor.
“Journalist Furkan Karabay is the latest in a long line of journalists who have ended up behind bars in Turkey simply for publishing critical reporting and commentary,” said Özgür Öğret, CPJ’s Turkey representative. “Karabay must not waste months of his life in prison, waiting to be indicted and tried. Turkey’s constant oppression of the free press is an obstacle to citizens’ rights to access information”.
Karabay, a reporter with the independent news site 10Haber, was detained on November 8 during a police raid in Turkey’s largest city, Istanbul.
The following evening, an Istanbul court transferred Karabay to prison pending trial on suspicion of “insulting a public servant,” “making targets of those who were tasked to combat terrorism,” and “knowingly distributing misleading information to the public,” according to news reports.
A court document seen by Reuters said that the allegations against Karabay related to his social media posts on X, where he named the prosecutors investigating an opposition mayor — facts that Karabay told the court had been reported by a number of media outlets.
On October 31, Karabay reported on the arrest of mayor Ahmet Özer, of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), who prosecutors accused of having links to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is banned as a terrorist organization in Turkey.
Journalists in Turkey who report on the judiciary are frequently charged with “making targets of those who were tasked to combat terrorism.”
On December 28, 2023, Karabay was arrested on the suspicion of “making targets of those who were tasked to combat terrorism” after reporting on a bribery trial. He was released pending trial on January 8, 2024.
CPJ’s emails requesting comment from the ministry of justice and the chief prosecutor’s office in Istanbul did not receive any replies.
