The court, which has sentenced Karabay to a total of 4 years and 3 months in prison on three separate charges, has ruled for the journalist's release, taking into account the time he had already served in prison

CANSU PİŞKİN, ISTANBUL

The first hearing in the trial of imprisoned journalist Furkan Karabay on charges of “disclosing the names of individuals involved in the fight against terrorism,” “insulting the president,” and “insulting a public official in connection with their duties” was held at the Istanbul 25th High Criminal Court on 2 December 2025.

Karabay and his lawyers, as well as President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's lawyer, were present at the hearing, which was monitored by P24.

Before beginning his defense, Karabay requested that the indictment against him be read aloud. The presiding judge responded, “There is no such procedure; I am not obliged to read it. I have stated the charges; you may proceed with your defense.”

Beginning his defense, Karabay stated, “I protest the Istanbul 26th High Criminal Court, which tried journalist Ercüment Akdeniz and ruled to continue the detention of Fatih Altaylı; the Istanbul 40th High Criminal Court, which accepted the indictment filed by Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office over political reasons and was full of material errors and omissions; the Istanbul 13th and 14th Criminal Court, which disregarded the human rights violation ruling against Tayfun Kahraman, refused to recognize the Constitutional Court, and violated the constitution; the magistrates' courts that issued arrest warrants against politicians, journalists, and students on charges of PKK, FETÖ, DHKP-C, and espionage; and all irregular judicial decisions in Turkey based on the political operations of the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office. Finally, I protest the Istanbul 25th High Criminal Court, which accepted the indictment filed against me as if it were a claim form. I have no defense to offer to your court, which intends to conduct a trial based on this indictment. I refuse to defend myself. I will not defend myself against this indictment; I will simply tear it up.” Karabay ended his defense by tearing up the indictment.

President Erdoğan's lawyer requested to join the case as co-plaintiff, stating that the complaints were ongoing. The court accepted the request on the grounds that he had suffered damage from the crime.

Karabay's lawyer, Enes Hikmet Ermaner, said he would make a statement after the prosecutor’s opinion on the case. The court adjourned the hearing to allow the prosecutor to prepare their opinion.

After a break of approximately 40 minutes, the prosecutor presented their final opinion on the case and requested that Karabay be punished for the charges of “publicly insulting the president,” “disclosing the names of officials who are involved in the fight against terrorism” three times in a chain, and “insulting a public official because of his duties.” The prosecutor requested that Karabay remain in custody.

Karabay refused to defend himself against the prosecutor's opinion. His lawyer, Enes Hikmet Ermaner, criticized the prosecutor, saying, "The prosecutor’s office requested time to prepare its opinion on the case. We have been waiting in front of the courtroom with 200 people for 40 minutes. And the opinion prepared is identical to the indictment.” 

Pointing out that none of the three charges in the indictment were substantiated, Ermaner said, ”There are sections in bold in the indictment. Should I consider these sections as the charges, or the other sections? This is not even mentioned in the indictment; it has been prepared with such carelessness. There's no evidence against my client, yet an investigation is opened just because of his name. My client is first declared a suspect, then arrested based on his posts between 1 April and 30 April. They are playing with my client's honor and pride. You detained someone who is in court every day on their birthday. I am not looking for malicious intent here, but it is definitely a very unfortunate coincidence. Furkan is being tried for his journalistic activities. That is why the indictment cannot substantiate the crime. Is it that easy to play with a person's life and criminal record? The only charge could be the mention of Akın Gürlek's name. Is Akın Gürlek's name untouchable? Does just mentioning Akın Gürlek's name warrant depriving a person of their freedom?”

Ermaner went on, ”Even if Furkan were convicted of all the crimes he is accused of, he has served his time. Given this, why did the prosecutor request that he remain in custody?" Ermaner requested Karabay's release and acquittal.

Özge Naz Akkaya, one of Karabay's lawyers, requested his release and acquittal, stating that the elements of the crime were not present in any of the three charges.

Lawyer Harun Karabay also said, "The crime of disclosing the names is now a crime practiced on Furkan. The first three cases opened against my client on the same charge were also baseless and unofficial. Is not the prosecution abusing its power by repeatedly attributing this crime? You decided to continue the same detention without even opening the file. Is not this a dereliction of duty? If you detain a person for 201 days on these charges, you are committing a crime. I demand an end to the judicial harassment of journalists and that my client be released and acquitted."

When asked for his final statement, Furkan Karabay said, “I have no final statement.”

The court sentenced Karabay to 1 year and 9 months for “insulting the president;” 1 year and 3 months for “insulting a public official;” 1 year and 3 months for “disclosing the name of” Akın Gürlek, and acquitted Karabay of “disclosing the names of” prosecutors Can Tuncay and Ahmet Şahin. Considering the time he had already served in prison, Karabay was released. 

The prosecutor, who wanted Karabay to remain in custody, appealed the release decision on the grounds that the 4 years and 3 months prison sentence given to the journalist amounted to 22 months of imprisonment. The Istanbul 25th High Criminal Court rejected the prosecutor's appeal. The prosecutor then took the appeal to upper court. The Istanbul 26th High Criminal Court has not yet ruled on the appeal.

Background of the case 

Journalist Furkan Karabay was taken into custody on 15 May as part of a new investigation launched by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office and was imprisoned pending trial on the same day on charges of “disclosing the names of individuals involved in the fight against terrorism,” “insulting the president,” and “insulting a public official in connection with their duties.”

The indictment against Karabay was completed on 5 September 2025. In addition to his social media posts, Karabay's statements made during his detention review on 11 July at the Istanbul 4th Criminal Court of Peace were also considered criminal offenses in the indictment. The prosecutor argued that Karabay's statements were “derogatory to the honor, dignity, and reputation of Istanbul 4th Criminal Court of Peace Judge Hatice Kozan and aimed at damaging the victim's reputation in society,” claiming that this constituted the crime of “insulting a public official in connection with their duties.” AKP Chairman and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Istanbul Chief Prosecutor Akın Gürlek, Istanbul Deputy Chief Prosecutor Can Tuncay, Public Prosecutor Ahmet Şahin, and Judge Hatice Kozan were listed as victims in the indictment