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January 30, 2025 – Turkey –
Turkish authorities detained five staff members of pro-opposition broadcaster Halk TV following the airing of a phone interview with a court-appointed expert witness, Satılmış Büyükcanayakın, involved in investigations targeting opposition-led municipalities.
Journalists Barış Pehlivan (who conducted the interview), host Seda Selek, legal affairs manager Serhan Asker, program director Kürşad Oğuz, and editor-in-chief Suat Toktaş were taken into custody. While four were released under judicial control—subject to travel bans and weekly check-ins—Toktaş remains in pre-trial detention after an Istanbul court ruled he improperly authorized the broadcast without confirming consent.
Prosecutors cite alleged breaches of Turkish Penal Code articles on illegal recording of private communications, influencing an expert witness, and violating court secrecy. They claim Toktaş failed to secure authorization before airing the interview, and that publicizing the expert’s identity could influence ongoing municipal probes.
Halk TV and staff insist the broadcast was in the public interest. Pehlivan states he warned Toktaş about the lack of consent, but Toktaş overruled his concern to uphold the expert’s right to respond. The station framed the program as standard journalistic practice.
The case triggered a broader backlash from press freedom advocates. CPJ called Toktaş’s detention a political act aimed at silencing critical media voices and urged his release alongside lifting restrictions on other staff. Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, whose criticism of the expert sparked the original probe, condemned Turkey’s pressure on journalists. Meanwhile, prosecutors launched a separate case against İmamoğlu for allegedly attempting to influence the judiciary.
Amid mounting tensions, Turkish Minute reports that prosecutors seek up to 14 years in prison for the accused journalists. Pehlivan and Oğuz could face sentences of 6–14 years for unauthorized recordings and influencing officials; Toktaş, Selek, and Asker face 4–9 years for publication-related offenses.
However, on March 4, Istanbul’s 54th Criminal Court acquitted all five journalists of “influencing judicial officials.” The court ordered Toktaş’s release after approximately 34 days in detention. A separate phone-recording charge was postponed for mediation, and travel restrictions were eased
Reference –
https://bianet.org/haber/halk-tv-chief-editor-arrested-in-expert-witness-investigation-304093
