The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has condemned a Turkish court’s order to arrest Halk TV Editor-in-Chief Suat Toktaş after the opposition-aligned network aired an interview with a court-appointed expert witness, saying it is a political move to silence critical voices, Turkish Minute reported.
İstanbul prosecutors opened an investigation into Halk TV following its Monday broadcast of an interview with an expert witness involved in the court cases of some municipalities, alleging that the recording was made without permission and that it sought to “manipulate a trial by exposing the name of the court-appointed expert witness in a way that would make [him] a target.”
Toktaş was arrested Wednesday pending trial, while Halk TV journalists Barış Pehlivan and Seda Selek, along with program coordinator Kürşad Oğuz and director Serhan Asker, were released under judicial supervision and a travel ban. Pehlivan and Selek were detained in Ankara on Tuesday, while Oğuz and Asker were taken into custody in İstanbul.
CPJ’s Turkey representative, Özgür Öğret, called the arrest and detentions a “political move by Turkish authorities to silence critical voices,” urging Toktaş’ release and an end to judicial harassment of journalists.
The interview’s content linked to ongoing legal battles involving İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, a key opposition figure who alleged that the expert was biased against municipalities controlled by the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP). Following a press conference in which he criticized the expert witness, prosecutors also opened an investigation into İmamoğlu for allegedly “making a target” of the witness.
Halk TV, which has ties to the CHP, said Toktaş authorized the interview’s broadcast. CPJ’s email inquiry to İstanbul’s chief public prosecutor received no response.
