The court has sentenced Aranca to 10 years in prison for “violating the confidentiality of the investigation,” and deferred the sentence

CANAN COŞKUN, İSTANBUL

The fourth hearing in the trial of T24 reporter Asuman Aranca for “violating the confidentiality of the investigation” over the news article titled "Sinan Ateş cinayeti dosyasındaki bilirkişi raporuna T24 ulaştı: Ateş'in adresini Ülkü Ocakları Başkanı istemiş!" (T24 obtained the expert report in the Sinan Ateş murder case: The Ülkü Ocakları President requested Ateş's address!) was held at the İstanbul 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance on 21 October 2025.

Lawyers for both sides were present at the hearing, which was followed by P24. Aranca and his lawyer, Mustafa Gökhan Tekşen, participated in the hearing via the judicial videoconferencing system from Ankara.

At the previous hearing, the court had given Aranca time to prepare her defense against the prosecutor’s opinion on the case. The judge asked the prosecutor whether they would make any changes to their opinion. The prosecutor reiterated their opinion and requested that Aranca be punished for the impugned crime.

“I cannot publish the entire report”

In her defense against the opinion, Aranca denied the charges. Stating that everyone mentioned in the news article in question had been convicted, Aranca said that no one had violated the presumption of innocence.

Aranca included the following statements in her defense:

"The prosecution says I published the entire expert report, but the report is 900 pages long. It is not possible to publish all of it. It is claimed that my news story is not in the public interest. It is a topic that has even been covered in the TV series Behzat Ç. One of the perpetrators of the Sinan Ateş murder was killed in the street the other day. How else could there be public interest in a case file?

“This news story was deemed worthy of three separate awards. It is therefore competent both in terms of the journalism profession and in terms of public interest. Furthermore, the report was given to the parties before it was reported, so it is not possible that I violated confidentiality. From my point of view, it is not possible that this crime was committed. I request my acquittal.”

Aranca's lawyer, Mustafa Gökhan Tekşen, also said in his defense against the opinion that the judiciary had intervened in the way the news was reported. Lawyer Tekşen said, “This is an issue that is still reverberating. The people on trial for this murder were executed in the middle of the street. I leave it to your court to decide whether there is public interest in this matter.” Tekşen said that no party involved in the incident had complained about the news report and requested his client's acquittal, stating that none of the elements of the crime had formed.

When asked for her final statement, Aranca requested her acquittal.

The court sentenced Aranca to 10 months in prison for “violating the confidentiality of the investigation,” and deferred the sentence.

Background of the case

An indictment was filed against T24 reporter Asuman Aranca over her news piece regarding the expert report prepared on the murder of former Idealist Hearths President Sinan Ateş.

The indictment filed by the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office sought Aranca's punishment on the charge of “violating the confidentiality of the investigation.”

The indictment argued that “while the subject matter may be considered newsworthy, the manner in which the news was reported and the publication of the entire report and images, despite the lack of justification, exceeded the limits of news reporting.”

The first hearing in Aranca's trial was held at the İstanbul 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance on 15 October 2024.

The prosecutor presented their final opinion on the case at the first hearing. The opinion reiterated the following assessment from the indictment:

“It is clear that the style of reporting and the disclosure of the content of the expert report, despite the absence of public interest, and the publication of all the images exceeded the limits of press freedom and reporting...”

The prosecutor requested that Aranca be punished for “violating the confidentiality of the investigation,” as stated in the indictment.

Sinan Ateş died after being shot in the Çukurambar neighborhood of Ankara's Çankaya district on 30 December 2022.