Velat Ekin, who was jailed alongside Hacıoğlu as part of the same investigation and was granted release and acquittal at the first hearing in his trial, will testify as a witness at the hearing on 6 January

FURKAN TUNÇDEMİR, VAN

The second hearing in the trial of journalist Reyhan Hacıoğlu, who is being tried on charges of “membership in a terrorist organization” as part of an Istanbul-based investigation, was held at the Van 2nd High Criminal Court on 9 October 2025.

Lawyer Nazmi Ayaz requested that the judicial control measures imposed on his client, consisting of a weekly reporting obligation and a ban on leaving the country, be lifted. Ayaz also requested that Velat Ekin, owner of Güncel Medya Prodüksiyon, be heard as a witness at the next hearing.

The court decided to continue the judicial control measures and accepted the request to hear Velat Ekin as a witness at the next hearing. The trial was postponed until 6 January 2026.

Background of the case

As part of an investigation conducted by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, Medya Haber TV employees Reyhan Hacıoğlu, Ahmet Güneş, Velat Ekin, Rahime Karvar, Vedat Örüç, and Necla Demir were detained on 17 January 2025. Hacıoğlu and the other journalists were imprisoned pending trial three days later on charges of “membership in a terrorist organization.”

In the indictment, Hacıoğlu's statements on television programs, her interviews with news sources, and her social media posts were cited as evidence of criminal activity.

As part of the same investigation, journalist Velat Ekin, owner of Güncel Medya Prodüksiyon, was also detained and imprisoned pending trial on 20 January. The case against Ekin was heard at the Istanbul 23rd High Criminal Court. At the end of the first hearing, the court acquitted Ekin of “membership in a terrorist organization” and released him on the grounds that “the elements of the crime were not present.”