Actor manager Barım sentenced to 12 years and 6 months in prison; RTÜK fines two dissident channels; prosecutor seeks punishment for reporter Çalıkoğlu; two investigations and one lawsuit started against journalist Uludağ

Two investigations and one lawsuit against journalist Uludağ

Two investigations have been launched and one lawsuit has been filed against journalist Alican Uludağ.

The Gebze Chief Public Prosecutor's Office has launched an investigation against journalist Uludağ on charges of “spreading false information” over his social media posts regarding the Ministry of Transportation's responsibility for the demolition of the Arslan Apartment building, which collapsed on 29 October 2024, resulting in the deaths of four people, due to the construction of a subway line underneath it.

Meanwhile, another investigation has been launched against Uludağ on charges of “defamation,” “insult,” and “spreading false information” over his social media posts about crime ring leader Ayhan Bora Kaplan and Supreme Court member and former Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor Yüksel Kocaman, following a complaint by Kocaman.

Furthermore, an investigation launched into Uludağ's sharing of a photo taken outside of Berk Akand, who was sentenced to 18 years and 9 months in prison in the case of university student Şule Çet, who was sexually assaulted and died after “falling” from the 20th floor of a plaza under suspicious circumstances, has been completed. The indictment stated that Uludağ's post constituted the elements of the crime of “spreading false information” and demanded punishment.

An indictment filed against Sedef Kabaş for “insulting the president” and “inciting crime”

The investigation against Sedef Kabaş, who was jailed and then released under judicial control measures on charges of “insulting the resident” and “incitement to commit a crime” over her social media posts has been completed.

In the indictment filed by the Anadolu Chief Public Prosecutor's Office Press Crimes Investigation Bureau, it was requested that Kabaş be punished for the charge of “incitement to commit a crime.” If the indictment is accepted by the Criminal Court of First Instance to which it was sent, Sedef Kabaş's trial will begin.

Kabaş was detained on 26 January on suspicion of “insulting the president” and “incitement to commit a crime” as part of an investigation launched by the Anadolu Chief Public Prosecutor's Office. After giving her statement to the prosecutor's office, Kabaş was referred to court and released under judicial control measures, including a “ban on leaving the country” and “signing in twice a week.”

RTÜK fines two channels

The Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) imposed a 2 percent administrative fine on Halk TV over the statements made by journalist Uğur Dündar while evaluating the resignation of Keçiören Mayor Mesut Özarslan, who resigned from the CHP.

The Board also imposed a 3 percent administrative fine on NOW TV on the grounds that scenes in the series Kıskanmak “undermined the institution of the family and normalized extramarital relationships and married individuals having children with other people.”

Access blocked to JinNews' X accounts

Access to JinNews' X accounts has been blocked for the fourth time. No official statement was made regarding the access block.

JinNews' new X account was announced as jinnews_trk.

In addition, the TikTok account of the Mesopotamia Agency (MA) was also blocked.

Journalist Zişan Gür and 65 other defendants' trial postponed until July

The second hearing in the trial of 66 people, including journalist Zişan Gür, who was detained while covering the Saraçhane protests, on charges of “participating in an unlawful assembly and march without weapons and refusing to disperse despite warnings,” was held at the Istanbul 26th Criminal Court of First Instance on 13 February 2026.

Due to the inadequacy of the courtroom, the hearing was held at the Istanbul 17th High Criminal Court.

Many lawyers attended the hearing, which was attended by Sendika.org reporter Muzaffer Zişan Gür and nine other defendants.

The judge announced that the decision requested from the Istanbul Governor's Office regarding the ban on actions and activities related to the Saraçhane protests had been sent to the case file.

The defendants' lawyers stated that the governorate's ban had been lifted. The lawyers also stated that most of the defendants had been tortured while in custody and that there was no concrete evidence for the charges.

The court decided to write to the Istanbul Police Department requesting that city surveillance camera footage of the area where 66 people were detained be sent to the case file.

The trial was postponed until 3 July 2026.

Request to recuse judge denied in “expert witness” case against five journalists

The fifth hearing in the trial of journalists Barış Pehlivan, Suat Toktaş, Seda Selek, Kürşad Oğuz, and Serhan Asker on charges of “recording conversations between individuals” and “publishing the recorded conversations in the press” was held at the Istanbul 54th Criminal Court of First Instance on 13 February 2026. The journalists are on trial for broadcasting on Halk TV a conversation with expert S.B., whose name was revealed by Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu at a press conference on 27 January 2025.

The defendants' lawyers were present at the hearing, which the defendants did not attend.

It emerged that the expert witness, who had been issued a compulsory attendance order at the previous hearing, appeared in court on 21 January and gave testimony during an interim hearing. In this testimony, taken during the interim hearing without notifying the defendants and their lawyers, the plaintiff and the defendants did not face each other. The defense lawyers were also unable to question the plaintiff.

The defense lawyers emphasized that this situation violated the right to a fair trial and requested the recusal of the judge.

The presiding judge ruled to reject the request for recusal and ordered the case file to be sent to the Istanbul High Criminal Court on Duty for review of the recusal request.

The next hearing will be held on 12 June 2026.

Academic Aslı Aydemir appears before judge

The first hearing in the trial of academic Aslı Aydemir, who was jailed for protesting the attack on the Beyoğlu office of LeMan magazine and charged with “resisting to prevent the performance of duty,” was held at the Istanbul 8th Criminal Court of First Instance on 12 February 2026.

Aydemir and her lawyer, as well as the plaintiff police officer and his lawyer, were present at the hearing, which was monitored by P24.

In her defense, Aydemir stated that her statement to the police had been recorded incompletely and that she saw the police officer she was accused of intentionally injuring for the first time in the courtroom.

Aydemir stated that she had met her husband in Taksim for dinner on the day of the incident and that they had learned of the attack on the LeMan magazine building because of a cartoon published in the magazine. Aydemir said that the group of attackers identified themselves as “Muslims” and chanted slogans, to which he responded, “Go to Palestine, you are in the wrong place,” stating that her intention was to draw attention to the contradiction in the reactions to Israel's attacks on Palestine.

The plaintiff's lawyer requested to join the case as co-plaintiff and said, “We request that the indictment be expanded. There is an injury involved. Our complaint continues.”

The court accepted police officer Mustafa Ö.'s request to join the case. The court decided to wait for the forensic medical report to determine whether the plaintiff had permanent functional loss and postponed the case until 23 June 2026.

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Prosecutor demands sentencing for Mehmet Üçar

The third hearing in the trial of journalist Mehmet Üçar on charges of “membership in a terrorist organization” over articles he wrote in Yeni Özgür Politika and PolitikArt, was held at the Batman 2nd High Criminal Court on 12 February 2026.

Üçar did not attend the hearing, but his lawyer, Şirin Şen, was present in the courtroom.

The prosecutor presented their final opinion on the case and requested that Üçar be punished for the impugned crime.

Stating that they did not agree with the opinion, lawyer Şen requested time from the court to prepare his defense against it.

The court accepted the request for time and postponed the case until 3 April 2026.

Ayşe Barım handed jail term

The third hearing in the trial of actor manager Barım on charges of “attempting to overthrow the government” was held at the Istanbul 26th High Criminal Court on 11 February 2026.

The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office had requested punishment for this charge in the indictment. However, in its opinion on the case submitted on 16 January, the prosecution sought an aggravated life sentence, increasing the severity of the charge. The prosecutor stated that Barım's actions constituted the crime of “attempting to overthrow the government” and did not apply the “aiding” provision in the indictment.

Barım was asked about the prosecutor's opinion on the case. Barım said, “I am going through a process I have never experienced in my life since 2025. I did not direct my actors to Gezi Park. I have never been a political person.”

Lawyer Sedat Özyurt said in his defense, “We are trying to prove something that did not happen. We are trying to prove that the defendant, who did nothing, did not commit a crime. According to the Constitution, there can be no crime without a law. In this case, there is an allegation of a crime without a law, and the opinion is not based on any evidence.”

Lawyer Aslı Kibar recalled the Supreme Court decisions in the main Gezi case, noting that the Supreme Court had acquitted Mücella Yapıcı, Hakan Altınay, and Yiğit Ali Ekmekçi, and that the nature of the crime had been changed and evaluated under Law No. 2911 on Meetings and Demonstrations.

Kibar said that Ayşe Barım should also be acquitted in line with this decision.

The court sentenced Barım to 12 years and 6 months in prison.

ID Communication owner and manager Ayşe Barım was detained on allegations of monopolization in the TV series and film industry, and was imprisoned pending trial on 28 January on allegations that she was one of the “planners” of the Gezi Park Resistance 12 years ago. Barım, who was detained for 248 days in Silivri Prison, was accused of directing actors registered with her agency to Gezi Park and was released pending trial on 1 October 2025.

Perihan Kaya's trial adjourned until May

The sixth hearing in the trial of journalist Perihan Kaya on charges of “insulting a public official” was held at the Tatvan 1st Criminal Court of First Instance on 11 February 2026.

Kaya and her lawyer did not attend the hearing.

The case was adjourned until 26 June 2026.

Değer is on trial for allegedly insulting a police officer while covering a march organized by women in Midyat.

Prosecutor seeks punishment for reporter Çalıkoğlu

The second hearing in the trial of Karar newspaper reporter Feyza Nur Çalıkoğlu for “spreading false information” over her report on the Çatalca Return Center was held at the Istanbul 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance on 10 February 2026.

Çalıkoğlu and her lawyer Serpil Özcan were present at the hearing.

Çalıkoğlu said the following in her defense: "As a journalist, I am not obliged to act like a prosecutor and present my news with documents, according to the Constitution and case law. I wrote my news story as an allegation. I am interested in the Return Centers, and I consult with expert lawyers on this subject. As a journalist, I exercised my freedom of expression and my right to inform the public.”

Lawyer Özcan also stated that her client acted in her capacity as a journalist to inform the public, saying, ”We request her acquittal."

After the defenses against the indictment, the prosecutor requested a recess in the hearing to present their final opinion on the case. The hearing was recessed for five minutes.

After the recess, the judge announced that the prosecutor had submitted their final opinion on the case to the file and requested that Çalıkoğlu be punished for the impugned crime. The prosecutor did not explain their opinion while the defendant was in the courtroom.

Çalıkoğlu, who defended herself against the prosecutor’s opinion, requested that the lawyers mentioned in the news report be heard as witnesses.

Çalıkoğlu's lawyer also requested additional time to prepare a defense against the prosecutor’s opinion.

The judge accepted the request for time; however, they did not rule on the request to hear the lawyers mentioned in the news report as witnesses.

The trial was postponed until 26 February 2026.

Journalist Fuat Yaşar sentenced to 116 days of judicial fines

The third hearing in the retrial of journalist Fuat Yaşar on charges of “insult” was held on 9 February 2026.

The court announced its decision after Yaşar's defense. Yaşar was sentenced to 116 days of judicial fines.

The case was brought against Yaşar for “insulting” former Yeni Şafak newspaper columnist İbrahim Karagül on social media in 2015. The case, filed at the Istanbul 63rd Criminal Court of First Instance, had been dismissed on the grounds of statute of limitations. Upon the application of Karagül's lawyer, the 24th Criminal Chamber of the Istanbul Regional Court of Appeals overturned the local court's decision and ruled that the case should be retried.

Öznur Değer's case postponed until June

The second hearing in the trial of journalist Öznur Değer, who is charged with “insulting a public official,” was held at the Midyat 1st Criminal Court of First Instance on 10 February 2026.

The case was postponed until 26 June 2026.

Değer is on trial for allegedly insulting a police officer while covering a march organized by women in Midyat.

At least 33 journalists and media workers behind bars in Turkey

As of 13 February 2026, there are now at least 33 journalists and media workers were in prison in Turkey, either awaiting trial or serving finalized sentences.

The full list can be accessed here.