Journalist Furkan Karabay, who has been in pre-trial detention for about two weeks, appeared in court in İstanbul on Tuesday to face charges in connection with his reporting on an investigation involving an opposition mayor in İstanbul, the Bianet news website reported.
Karabay faces charges of “targeting public officials involved in counterterrorism,” “insult” and “publicly disseminating misleading information.” The charges stem from his reporting and social media posts about an investigation involving Esenyurt Mayor Ahmet Özer, a member of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) who was removed from office and arrested on terrorism-related charges last October.
The journalist is known for his critical coverage of investigations targeting municipalities in İstanbul run by the CHP and the arrest of İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu in March.
Karabay, who has been in pretrial detention on separate charges since May 15, was brought to the İstanbul 22nd High Criminal Court from Marmara Prison in Silivri, where he is currently held, to appear at the first hearing of his trial on Tuesday.
Press union DİSK Basın-İş, representatives from the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and several fellow journalists attended the hearing in solidarity with Karabay.
In his courtroom defense, Karabay dismissed the indictment as “sloppy” and questioned whether naming public officials in news stories constituted a crime. “Are only certain media outlets allowed to mention the names of İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor Akın Gürlek and deputy chief prosecutor Can Tuncay?” he asked.
Gürlek, who was appointed as İstanbul’s chief prosecutor in October, has been accused of using his judicial authority to pursue a crackdown on the CHP on orders from the government. He is referred as a “mobile guillotine“ by CHP leader Özgür Özel.
“Because of such careless indictments, public trust in the judiciary in Turkey is collapsing,” Karabay added. “What I did was journalism, nothing else. I would report the same story again. We do not serve criminal networks; we serve the public. What is on trial here is journalism itself.”
The prosecution has sought a prison sentence on all three charges. Karabay and his legal team asked for additional time to prepare their defense in response to the prosecutor’s closing opinion. The court granted the request and scheduled the next hearing for October 2.
His latest arrest marks the third time Karabay has appeared before a court as part of similar investigations and similar charges.
He had previously been arrested in November for reporting on the arrest of Esenyurt Mayor Özer and the appointment of a trustee to the municipality. He was released 10 days later.
İmamoğlu and the CHP have been facing a crackdown in recent months, which culminated with the arrest of İmamoğlu on March 23. Critics say President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan wants to sideline İmamoğlu, his most powerful political rival, in the next presidential race by ensuring his arrest on politically motivated charges.
The CHP and İmamoğlu accuse the İstanbul prosecutors who launched the investigations into them of acting on orders from the government. İmamoğlu is also being investigated due to his remarks targeting the chief public prosecutor in İstanbul on accusations of “targeting public officials involved in the fight against terrorism.”
Turkey, which remains one of the world’s leading jailers of journalists, according to press freedom organizations, dropped to 159th out of 180 countries in the 2025 World Press Freedom Index, published by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) in early May.
Turkish authorities frequently use broad counterterrorism laws and insult charges to prosecute members of the press.