An Istanbul court has sentenced imprisoned journalist Aysever to 10 months in prison for the crime of “inciting the public to hatred and hostility,” and released him

EYLEM SONBAHAR, ISTANBUL

The first hearing in the trial of imprisoned journalist Enver Aysever on charges of “publicly inciting the public to hatred and hostility” over statements he made in a video shared on his YouTube channel, was held at the Küçükçekmece 30th Criminal Court of First Instance on 12 March 2026.

Aysever, who was brought from the Marmara Closed Prison where he is being held, was present in the courtroom accompanied by gendarmes. The hearing, which was monitored by P24, saw attendance of a large number of people, including Aysever’s family and friends.

After his identity was verified, Aysever began his defense, stating, “The case I am facing is a classic example of an Aziz Nesin-style case. There is a very clear ironic problem here. My words have been misunderstood. I tried to objectively explain the state that the concepts of ‘right’ and ‘left’ have taken on worldwide. The date of the speech was 11 December, and it was not a speech I gave out of the blue. One of the reasons I felt compelled to record this video was the statements made by Ekrem İmamoğlu’s father, Hasan İmamoğlu, regarding communism.”

“In my speech, I did not intend to incite the right and left in Turkey against each other; on the contrary, my speech contains objective assessments,” he said.

Rejecting the allegations, Aysever continued as follows: “At 2 a.m., the police were at my door. Until that hour, there was no such phenomenon on the streets or on social media where people were saying, ‘Enver Aysever said this—let’s go break each other’s heads.’ The indictment is based on a single channel. How many people are even aware of this news channel? Why is the prosecutor acting as if there were only one channel in Turkey? I can say that citing a channel whose name has only recently become known is far from good faith. My hands have always held books and pens; this is the first time in my life they have met handcuffs. A journalist in Turkey is being handcuffed. What is the crime? Speaking one’s mind. A careful reading of the indictment reveals that the words I expressed are not a crime but merely aimed at sparking a discussion. There is no sentence for this crime, yet I have been detained for three months."

Aysever, noting that Şamil Tayyar, Barış Yarkadaş, lawyer Akın Atalay, Furkan Bölükbaşı, and many others had shared posts regarding his detention, read these posts aloud in court. The judge interrupted Aysever’s defense, saying, “State only that you are innocent.” Aysever replied, “I did not commit a crime. My mother is 82 years old; by taking three months of my life, the days I could have spent with her have been stolen. I had a YouTube channel; I was earning below the poverty line, and that was taken from me too. I have written 28 books in this country, and I have thousands of articles. I have won every award in journalism. So, what am I doing now? I am a resident of Silivri,” demanding his acquittal and release.

“No imminent and clear danger has arisen”

The court then moved on to the statement by his lawyer, Mikayil Dilbaz. Dilbaz said, “Enver Aysever said, ‘Being right-wing is a crime.’ If you focus solely on a single word, this is the kind of indictment you get. Being right-wing is not a region, a sect, or a religion. You cannot draft an indictment so arbitrarily. It is a poor indictment, but I respect it. No imminent and clear danger has arisen. The material elements of the crime attributed to my client have not been established. For these reasons, we request that a decision be made to acquit and release my client,” he said.

The hearing was adjourned for five minutes to allow the prosecutor to prepare their final opinion on the case. After the recess, the prosecutor requested that Aysever be sentenced and released.

Aysever, responding to the opinion, said, “I demand my acquittal.”

The court ruled that Enver Aysever be sentenced to 10 months in prison for the impugned crime, and that the sentence be suspended. Along with the verdict, the court also ordered Aysever’s release.

Background of the case

In an interview given by Hasan İmamoğlu, the father of imprisoned Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, he had stated, “I have struggled and worked my entire life. I fought so that communism would not come to our country.”

In a video on his YouTube channel dated 10 December 2025, Aysever criticized Hasan İmamoğlu’s remarks, stating, “Being right-wing is a crime. When you are right-wing, you become immoral, or your morality becomes immorality. So come join the fight against the right-wing. “Right-wing ideology has no criteria. It has no conscience. It exploits religion. It exploits nationalism,” he said.

Aysever was detained as part of an investigation launched by the Küçükçekmece Chief Prosecutor’s Office and was imprisoned pending trial on 11 December. The indictment against him was filed on 5 February 2026.

The indictment argued that “Enver Aysever is a well-known journalist in Turkey, and well-known figures must use careful language when making statements and ensure they do not exceed the boundaries of freedom of expression and the press.” The prosecutor claimed that his remarks in the video constituted the crime of publicly inciting left-leaning citizens against right-leaning citizens.