In what press freedom advocates are calling another alarming assault on journalism in Turkey, six prominent journalists were escorted by police to Istanbul Police Headquarters on Wednesday morning to give statements in connection with an investigation into jailed Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu. The journalists face serious charges of "publicly disseminating false information" and "aiding a criminal organization" in what prosecutors describe as the "İmamoğlu Profit-Oriented Criminal Organization" probe.
According to Turkish news outlet T24, the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office requested statements from journalists Soner Yalçın, Şaban Sevinç, Aslı Aydıntaşbaş, Ruşen Çakır, Batuhan Çolak, and Yavuz Oğhan, who also serves as the Republican People's Party (CHP) Communications Coordinator. The prosecutor's memorandum to police alleged that these journalists had made social media posts favorable to the detained İmamoğlu.
Early Wednesday morning, police arrived at the homes of Sevinç, Oğhan, Çolak, and Yalçın to escort them for questioning. Reports indicate their mobile phones were confiscated during what lawyers are characterizing as a "de facto detention." Journalist Ruşen Çakır took to social media to clarify that he had not yet been taken into custody, contradicting some initial reports.
The prosecutor's office issued a formal statement justifying the action: "Within the scope of the ongoing investigation into the İmamoğlu Profit-Oriented criminal organization, instructions have been given to the Istanbul Police Department to obtain statements from the suspects regarding the crimes of Publicly Disseminating False Information and Aiding a Criminal Organization. The statement-taking procedures will take place at the Police Department."
Yavuz Oğhan's lawyer, Hüseyin Ersöz, condemned the manner of his client's detention. "Journalist Yavuz Oğhan was taken from his home at 6:45 AM by police in what we can call a 'de facto detention,' even though it's not officially named as such," Ersöz stated. He added that no search was conducted at Oğhan's residence and that when they requested to meet with their client, they were told the "operation was ongoing" and they could meet in an hour.
According to journalist Ceylan Sever, the prosecutor's memorandum cited a MASAK report (Turkey's Financial Crimes Investigation Board), statements from various testimonies, open-source research, and social media activity as evidence. The document allegedly claims the journalists made posts supporting İmamoğlu and were in contact with Emrah Bağdatlı, who reportedly acted under instructions from Murat Ongun, İmamoğlu's press advisor and Media Inc. President.
The investigation appears linked to recent allegations published in Akşam newspaper, which claimed that Ongun financed certain journalists through Bağdatlı. Oğhan had previously denied these allegations on social media, stating he had never met Bağdatlı and calling the claims "slanderous lies."
Notably, Oğhan recently published a book titled "Entrusted to the Nation," chronicling İmamoğlu's political struggle from January 2019 through the controversial Istanbul mayoral elections and their subsequent annulment.
Photo: Gemini AI