Access to social media restricted; İsmail Saymaz given house arrest; RTÜK fines channels over “İmamoğlu” reports; journalists given jail term in Özgür Gündem case

Access to social media restricted on the day Ekrem İmamoğlu was arrested

 

Social media users across Turkey experienced problems accessing some platforms since Monday morning.

 

London-based internet watchdog Netblocks confirmed that access to X, YouTube, Instagram and TikTok was restricted.

 

“Live metrics show that Turkey has restricted access to multiple social media platforms, including X, YouTube, Instagram and TikTok,” the organization said in a statement.

 

The access restrictions began in the morning hours after more than 100 people, including İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, were arrested as part of two separate investigations into the İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB).

 

The restriction ended on 21 March.

 

CNBC-e Editor-in-Chief Servet Yıldırım detained

 

An operation was launched against İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu in the morning hours of 19 March. Many people close to İmamoğlu and İmamoğlu himself were taken into custody.

 

CNBC-e's Editor-in-Chief Servet Yıldırım is among the detainees.

 

İsmail Saymaz given house arrest

 

Halk TV reporter İsmail Saymaz was detained on 19 March on the charge of “aiding the attempt to overthrow the government of the Republic of Turkey” as part of an investigation launched by the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office into the Gezi Park protests in 2013.

 

Saymaz was interrogated by the İstanbul 10th Criminal Judgeship of Peace on 21 March, and was released on house arrest.

 

A few days before his detention, Saymaz announced that he was banned from traveling abroad and his passport was confiscated.

 

Anchor Ece Üner called to give statement

 

İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office launched an investigation against Halk TV anchor Ece Üner on charges of “publicly insulting judicial bodies of the state” and “attempting to influence fair trial.”

 

On 18 March, police officers arrived at the Halk TV building and took Üner to the prosecutor's office to give a statement, but she was later released under judicial control measures.

 

RTÜK fines channels over “İmamoğlu” reports

 

The Radio and Television Supreme Council issued Now TV with a 3 percent administrative fine; Tele 1 with a 3 percent administrative fine; Halk TV with a 3 percent administrative fine and three program suspensions, and Sözcü TV with a 3 percent administrative fine and three program suspensions over Özlem Gürses' program.

 

RTÜK member İlhan Taşçı from the main-opposition CHP stated, “It seems that the President of RTÜK, with the political power behind him, has declared war against the media under the pretext of the investigation into İstanbul Metropolitan Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu.”

 

Trial of Perihan Kaya adjourned until June

 

The sixth hearing in the retrial of journalist Perihan Kaya on the charge of “terrorism propaganda” was held at the Diyarbakır 10th High Criminal Court on 21 March 2025.

 

Kaya did not attend the hearing while her lawyer was present.

 

The court received Kaya's statement taken abroad in Switzerland and decided to wait for the translation of the statement sent to the expert.

The trial was adjourned until 18 June 2025.

 

Trial of Naci Sapan over his reports on “trustee” adjourned until April

 

The hearing in the lawsuit filed against Tigris News Editorial Coordinator Naci Sapan due to “insulting a public official” over his column titled “Trustees, trustees!” was held at the Diyarbakır 5th Criminal Court of First Instance on 20 March 2025. The case had previously been held in simple trial procedure and Sapan was sentenced to TL 2,700 of judicial fine.

 

Journalist Sapan and her lawyer Sertaç Eke attended the hearing.

 

In his defense, Sapan emphasized that he did not insult any person or institution in his article and said, “I wrote this article by considering the public interest. I have been a journalist for 50 years, there is no insult in my article.”

 

The court ruled to wait for the statement of Abdullah Çiftçi, the then Deputy Governor of Diyarbakır.

 

The next hearing will be held on 17 April 2025.

 

Journalists in Özgür Gündem case given jail term

 

The 30th hearing in the trial of now-defunct Özgür Gündem Editors-in-Chief Hüseyin Aykol and Zana Kaya, Managing Editor İnan Kızılkaya and politician Hatip Dicle on charges of “publicly denigrating the Turkish Nation, the State of the Republic of Turkey, the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, the Government of the Republic of Turkey and the judicial organs of the State” and “publicly denigrating the military or security organization of the State was held” over news articles published in the newspaper in 2016 was held at the İstanbul 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance on 20 March 2025.

 

Lawyer Sercan Korkmaz was present at the hearing, which was monitored by P24.

 

The prosecutor repeated their final opinion on the case presented in the previous hearing and demanded that Dicle's case be separated, while Aykol, Kaya and Kızılkaya be sentenced for the impugned crimes.

 

The court sentenced journalists Hüseyin Aykol and İnan Kızılkaya to 1 year and 3 months imprisonment over five combined files; İnan Kızılkaya and Zana Kaya to 10 months imprisonment over one combined file; and acquitted Hatip Dicle over one combined file and ruled for separation of the file for another case.

 

 

Journalist Merdan Yanardağ sentenced to prison for “publicly denigrating the military organization of the state”

 

The second hearing in the lawsuit filed against journalist Merdan Yanardağ on the charge of “publicly denigrating the military organization of the state” over his statements in the video titled “AKP’nin siyasi etiği Türkiye’yi hangi noktaya getirdi?” (To what point did AKP's political ethics bring Turkey?) published on Tele 1's YouTube channel on 5 February 2024, was held at the İstanbul 30th Criminal Court of First Instance on 20 March 2025.

 

Yanardağ's lawyer Bilgütay Hakkı Durna was present at the hearing, which was monitored by P24.

 

The prosecutor repeated their final opinion on the case presented in the first hearing in the case on 13 March and demanded that Yanardağ be sentenced in line with the indictment.

 

The court sentenced Yanardağ to 1 year and 3 months in prison for the impugned crime.

 

 

Prison sentence for Ali Ergin Demirhan

 

İstanbul 29th Criminal Court of First Instance sentenced Ali Ergin Demirhan, a member of Sendika.Org's editorial board, to 6 months in prison over a Charlie Hebdo news article published 10 years ago. The court reduced the sentence and handed him 3 months and 22 days in prison.

 

Demirhan was on trial for “insulting religious values” for printing the entire issue of Charlie Hebdo on sendika.org after the newspaper's pages featuring the Prophet Muhammad cartoon were blocked in 2015.

 

In 2024, the Constitutional Court ruled that the blocking of access to the pages of news websites such as T24, BirGün, İnternethaber and Thelira was a “violation of rights” and violated their freedom of expression.

 

Following the Constitutional Court's ruling, sendika.org was targeted by some media accounts. The İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office then launched an investigation against Demirhan and called Demirhan to give statement twice. The investigation turned into a trial with the indictment filed in November 2024.

 

Journalist Eylem Babayiğit released with sentence

 

The first hearing in the lawsuit filed against jailed journalist Eylem Babayiğit on the charge of “membership in a terrorist organization” over her work at Medya Haber TV and the statements she made in her program Mercek was held at the İstanbul 22nd High Criminal Court on 19 March 2025.

 

Eylem Babayiğit, who has been in pre-trial detention since 24 January, and her lawyers were present at the hearing, which was monitored by P24.

 

Presenting their final opinion on the case, the prosecutor demanded that Babayiğit be sentenced for the impugned crime, and requested her release.

 

The court released Babayiğit and sentenced the journalist to 1 year, 6 months and 22 days in prison for the impugned crime. The sentence was deferred.

 

 

Judicial fine against journalist Onur Öncü

 

The third hearing in the trial of journalist Onur Öncü on the charge of “insult” upon the complaint of Milat newspaper Ankara representative Özlem Doğan, over a social media post, was held at the İstanbul 29th Criminal Court of First Instance on 18 March 2025.

 

Öncü's lawyer was present at the hearing, which was monitored by P24. Öncü did not attend the hearing.

The prosecutor repeated their final opinion he presented in the previous hearing and demanded that Öncü be sentenced for the impugned crime.

 

The court sentenced Öncü to a judicial fine of TL 1,740 for “insult.” The sentence was deferred.

 

Vice News journalists acquitted

 

The 22nd hearing in the trial of Jake Hanrahan, reporter of the US-based Vice News, on the charge of “financing an illegal organization,” “membership in a terrorist organization” and “terrorism propaganda,” and cameraman Philip Pendlebury on the charge of “membership in a terrorist organization” was held at the Diyarbakır 8th High Criminal Court on 17 March 2025.

 

While the defendants did not attend the hearing, the lawyers of Pendlebury and Hanrahan were present.

 

In their final opinion, the prosecutor demanded that all defendants be sentenced for the charges in the indictment.

 

The lawyer of the defendants, Törehan Büyüksoy, stated that his clients were journalists and had come to Turkey for this purpose, and asked for their acquittal.

 

The court acquitted the defendants on the grounds that the legal elements of the charged crime did not form.

 

At least 34 journalists and media workers in prison

 

Following the release of Eylem Babayiğit, as of March 21, 2025, there are at least 34 journalists and media workers in pre-trial detention or imprisonment in Turkey.

 

The full list can be accessed here.